Man who spent 7 years in Ethiopian prison arrested with cocaine in Lagos

One Onyeka Madukolu who had spent seven years in an Ethiopian prison for drug trafficking offences has been arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.

Operatives of the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arrested him for importing 5.90 kilograms of cocaine into Nigeria.

He was said to have concealed the drugs in cans of deodorants and ladies’ lip gloss.

According to NDLEA’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, Madukolu, who regained his freedom from an Ethiopian prison in 2020, was returning from Sao Paulo, Brazil, via Addis Ababa, when he was nabbed.

“A search of his luggage revealed that he concealed 5.90kg cocaine inside cans of deodorants and female lip gloss. During a preliminary interview, he claimed to have ventured into the drug business to raise fresh capital to kick-start a legitimate business after his release from Ethiopian prison in 2020,” Babafemi stated.

Confessing to trafficking the drugs, the father of two kids (one from a Nigerian woman and the other from a Brazilian lady), said he used to be a vehicle spare parts dealer before venturing into the criminal trade.

Madukolu further revealed that he was expecting to be paid N2 million upon the delivery of the illicit drugs.

In a related development, the NDLEA operatives also arrested Qasem Ademola, the producer of a new psychoactive substance, popularly called Akuskura, in Kano State.

The anti-narcotic officers arrested Ademola, as they intercepted 26,000 bottles of the illicit substance.