Two Qatar-based drug barons, Eyah Nnamdi and Ugwuoke Oluchukwu, have been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, following the interception of their methamphetamine consignment at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.

Oluchukwu was the first to be arrested on June 8, during the outward clearance of Qatar Airways passengers at the departure point, Terminal 2 of the Lagos airport.

The spokesperson for the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, noted that officers discovered that the suspect was travelling to Doha with an Ivorian passport with the name Hien Narcisse.

Babafemi said, “A further scrutiny of his black carry-on luggage led to the discovery of a false bottom concealment of two parcels of crystalline substance that tested positive for methamphetamine, weighing 1.00kg.

“Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect is a Nigerian who had gone to obtain an Ivorian passport for his travels. He confessed that he travelled to Qatar in August 2022 and returned from the Arab nation about two months ago to perfect arrangement for the movement of the drug consignment.”

The NDLEA spokesman said further probe led operatives to discover Oluchukwu’s “Qatar-based senior partner in the trade simply identified as Murphy.”

According to him, Murphy was found in the Nsukka LGA, Enugu State.

“A prompt deployment of NDLEA operatives to Eziani community of Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, on June 10 led to the arrest of ‘Murphy’ whose true identity was later discovered to be Eyah Celestine Nnamdi, who had lived in Indonesia for some years before relocating to Doha, Qatar,” he added.

In the same vein, anti-narcotic officers have arrested a female pharmacist, Ikwebe Ori in Kaduna following her alleged attempt to use forged documents to purchase and distribute six cartons of pentazocine injection with 2,000 ampules.

She allegedly confessed she used fake documents of a Kaduna hospital to order the drug, which she planned to distribute in Kaduna, Abuja and Sokoto.

The consignment was initially intercepted at the local wing of the MMIA, Ikeja while being sent to Kaduna by a freight agent.