Mother Of 6 Nabbed With Cocaine Worth N10M At Port Harcourt International Airport

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a mother of six, identified as Mrs Adaba Onitemi, who ingested 839 grams of substance believed to be cocaine, valued at about N10 million, at the Port Harcourt International Airport.

Mrs Onitemi, 54 and a widow was arrested while attempting to board a London-bound Lufthansa Airline, following suspicion by operatives of the NDLEA at the Airport about 8:30p.m on May 23.

NDLEA Commander, Port Harcourt International Airport, Olutekunbi Davies, who disclosed this to journalists on Wednesday, said the suspect was taken to the military hospital in the state capital where she was found to have ingested the substance.

“On May 23 , 2012, at about 8:30p.m, a female drug suspect, Mrs Adaba Sekinatu Onitemi, 54, was arrested while attempting to board a Lufthansa Airline on her way to London via Frankfurt.

“She was taken to Military Hospital Port Harcourt where the X-ray scanner used on her proved positive for ingestion of substances suspected to be cocaine. She has since then excreted 58 wraps weighing 839grammes,” Davies said.

The NDLEA commander disclosed that the substance would be valued about N10million, pointing out that no fewer than three drug suspects had been arrested in similar circumstances at the airport in the last two years.

Speaking further, Davies explained that the agency had pulled out its detecting machines at the airport due to ongoing renovation work at the airport, saying the situation had posed some challenges in tracking drug peddlers, but noted that its operatives were well trained to rise to any given occasion.

Davies further disclosed that suspected drug peddlers now concealed such illicit items in processed food cans to avoid being detected, which was why the agency was using sniffer dogs, saying, “the present chairman of the NDLEA has zero tolerance for compromise and any of our men found wanting will be shown the way out.”

Although, the suspect maintained a studied silence when newsmen attempted to get her comments, an operative of the NDLEA, who claimed had chatted with her, told newsmen that 54-year old Mrs Onitemi was a mother of six and that she lost her husband in 1999.