Ifeoma Maureen with the Cannabis
The Nation reports that the Anambra state
native was arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency
(NDLEA) at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) in Ikeja,
Lagos, during an outward screening of China-bound Ethiopian Airlines’
passengers.
She was discovered, attempting to smuggle
6.200 kilogrammes of dried weeds that tested positive for cannabis.
Although before the bubble busted, she was quoted to have said that the
content of her bags are vegetables and foodstuff, the agency’s Airport
Commander, Mr. Hamza Umar, made it known that the discovered drug was
packed in two parcels.
Maureen during interrogation denied her knowledge of the cannabis. She said:
“I am a business woman; I sell women’s clothes at the Onitsha main
market. I usually export foodstuff to China and import female dresses to
Nigeria. One of my customers in China called to tell me that his
brother would give me two parcels of vegetables to bring to him. I
collected the parcels at the airport from the boy. Unfortunately, when
they tested them, I was told that they contained cannabis.”
However, the Chairman/Chief Executive of
NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade, used the opportunity to open the eyes of the public
to the dangers of drug trafficking in some of foreign countries
saying: “This mother of three children would have been killed in
China for drug trafficking if she was not apprehended here. It is
important for the public to learn from her experience and shun drug
trafficking.’‘
He further warned warned travellers not
to collect items from people who will not be present during the search,
saying that no matter the explanation, the suspect will be charged to
court for unlawful possession of, and attempt to export cannabis.
It would be recalled that just recently, the NDLEA arrested five fishermen for smuggling N10m worth of Cannabis.
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