44-YEAR-OLD EX-CONVICT WAS ARRESTED IN LAGOS WITH ILLICIT DRUGS TWO YEARS AFTER HE WAS RELEASED FROM AN ETHIOPIAN PRISON

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arrested an ex-convict, Onyeka Charles Madukolu, for allegedly bringing into the country 5.90 kilograms of cocaine concealed in deodorant and ladies lip gloss cans.

On Friday, September 16, 2022, the 44-year-old suspect was apprehended at Lagos' Murtala Muhammed International Airport.

In a statement issued on Sunday, September 18, NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi said Onyeka was sentenced to seven years in prison in Ethiopia for drug trafficking offenses and will be released in 2020.

He was arrested again on Friday at the Lagos airport on his way back from Sao Paulo, Brazil, on an Ethiopian Airlines flight via Addis Ababa.

A search of his luggage revealed that he had hidden 5.90kg of cocaine inside deodorant cans and female lip gloss. During the preliminary interview, he claimed to have entered the drug business in order to raise fresh capital to start a legitimate business after his release from Ethiopian prison in 2020.

The father of two children, one from a Nigerian woman and one from a Brazilian woman, stated that before entering the criminal trade, he was in the motor spare parts business. The Anambra State indigene said he expected to be paid N2 million for the successful delivery of the illicit drug in Nigeria "The statement read as follows: