*WARNS DRUG BARONS OF TOUGH TIMES
*ARRESTS DRUG TRAFFICKER WITH
933GRMS OF COCAINE
By Lateef Lawal,MMA,Lagos
Chairman/Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Ahmadu Giade has expressed support for the use of full body scanning in several countries following the latest terror alert.
The development, according to him was a clear red "alert"signal to drug barons of tough days ahead. Giade said that 2010 will be a tough year for drug syndicates as the international community is adopting stiffer measures in passenger screening.
He noted that global security checks have heightened at exit and entry points in line with the Agency’s determination to frustrate drug barons within the year.
The NDLEA boss emphasised that ,"terror threat has redefined global security checks. The increase in the use of full body scanning machines will make the year a painful one for drug barons. Be it air, land and sea travel, traffickers must be prepared for difficult times”. Since the failed attempt to detonate an explosive on a Detroit bound airliner on December 25 2009, passenger screening worldwide has taken a different dimension. The development in Nigeria has yielded good results.
Meanwhile, 29 year old Ogbeide Prince was the first drug trafficker to be nabbed in the new year.as he was arrested on the 1st of January 2010 at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos by anti-narcotic officials. Ogbeide was detected with the aid of scanning machine on new year day at about 9:25 pm local time for ingesting narcotic drugs during the screening of passengers on Alitalia Flight. His final destination was Venezia in Italy where he has gone to sojourn since 2007.
He admitted ingesting 73 pieces of substances that tested positive to cocaine weighing 922 grammes. Ogbeide who was to be paid the sum of 4,000 Euros attributed his involvement in drug trafficking to hardship arising from inability to pay his rent and settle basic bills after being jobless for six months.
“I travelled to Europe in 2007 but things went wrong when I lost my job and was unable to settle my bills. That was when I gave in to drug trafficking. On arrival from Italy, I was taken to a hotel where I swallowed the drugs. My sponsors told me that security will be week on New Year day. Unfortunately, I was arrested” Ogbeide stated.
Reacting to the arrest of Ogbeide, NDLEA Airport commander Alhaji Hamza Umar said that the suspect’s arrest is a warning to others that the Agency will stop any move by drug barons to smuggle drugs this year.
“The arrest of Obgeide Prince on 1st January is a strong indication to all drug traffickers that the year will not be easy for drug traffickers” Hamza stated. The 29 year old from Idemili in Anambra State South East Nigeria said that he would have started a grocery business in the country if he had succeeded.
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