Drug trafficking: Clearing agents, problem to drug war-- NDLEA

Emeka Ibemere

Activities of the members of the freight forwarders at both the National Aviation Handling Company, NACHO, and their counter parts at the Skyway Aviation Handling Company Limited, SAHCOL, section of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos is becoming a pain in the neck of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

Severally the staffers of both companies have continued to defy government orders in conniving with drug barons to ship illicit drugs in and out of the shores of Nigeria without collaborating with the agency’s men stationed at both organizations’ operational offices.

 The unrepentant collaboration with drug gangs in Nigeria and outside is allegedly causing ripples at the offices of the organizations and is giving NDLEA operatives a great concern.

 Overtime, the members of the freight forwarders have been warned to contact operatives on any suspicious luggage or heavy equipment either on arrival of about to be dispatched but the clearing agents have failed to do as agreed.

It would be recalled that the Agency late last year placed courier companies under the security search light. This is because the custom licensed agents and their counterparts at the airport bluntly refused to heed the warnings by the NDLEA and Nigeria Cargo Aviation Authority NACAA. The two government agencies urged the agents to painstakingly check any goods handed over to them before clearing such goods. The agencies also added that the agents’ failure to comply with the order, might lead to their prosecution.
Mr Austin Eboigbe, the Safety Inspector of NCAA, advised the cargo agents to report any suspicious cargo to the appropriate authorities.
Eboigbe said that several air crashes happened because of improper handling of dangerous goods onboard aircraft.
According to him, the agency is currently investigating incidents relating to dangerous goods carried within the country by some agents.
Eboigbe added that such dangerous goods, included fireworks, lighter, gas cooker, body spray and magnets.
He warned that the agency would not hesitate to withdraw the licence of any agent or sanction any airline found wanting.
Mr Nasir Kotangora, the Head of NDLEA at the Murtula Mohammed Airport, Lagos, said that drugs were dangerous goods, which could cause harm to the aircraft.
“As agents, you are expected to crosscheck properly any luggage you collect for shipment.
“Dangerous goods for shipment should be accompanied with the required papers.
“Any powder you are collecting should be subjected to forensic analysis.
It is the responsibility of all to ensure total security within the airports,” he said.
Mr Agbongban Bright, the Group Head, Regional Business and Cargo Shed Manager, Greater Washington Logistics, said that the company organised the seminar to sensitise the agents on the shipment of dangerous goods.
Bright urged the agents to always follow safety standards and practice as laid down by the International Civil Aviation Organisation and the International Air Transport Association.
“In recent times, we have had cases of some agents who ignorantly shipped items that constituted dangerous goods, which the agency had to identify because it was not known to the agents. We see that this has become a recurring issue and we need to organise a seminar like this to create awareness among the agents on what constitute dangerous goods,” he said. Mitchell Ofoyeju, the spokesman for the NDLEA, told our correspondent that more than 10 custom licensed agents or clearing agents have been nabbed with the dangerous drugs at the Airport.

This week’s arrest of a clearing agent made it 11 suspects in the last one year and it again exposed the clandestine activities of the group’s attempt in thwarting the effort of the agency in getting rid of illicit drug out of Nigeria.

The agency in its routine operation at the SACHOL discovered 2.460kg of cocaine inside female shoes and voltage regulators at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.

The seizures were made in a consignment of female shoes from Brazil on board an Ethiopian Airline flight and a shipment of voltage regulators meant for export to Gabon on a DHL cargo flight.

NDLEA Commander at the Lagos Airport, Mr. Hamza Umar explained that the shoes shipped into the country were abandoned.

“We found an abandoned luggage containing ladies shoes that originated from Brazil. During examination, 1.860kg of cocaine was found inside the shoe soles”, he added.

“Our men at the Skyway Aviation Handling Company Limited (SAHCOL) section of the airport also detected 600 grammes of cocaine hidden in a voltage regulator. A freight forwarder had been arrested in connection with the cocaine shipment to Gabon” Hamza stated. The agency’s spokesman, Mitchell Ofoyeju, said the suspect is Nyeaka Chidiebere Anslem, and that he is 37, years old.

 He said the suspect hails from Imo State. However, the suspect said in his statement that he was given the consignment by his client.

“I am a freight forwarder with over five years working experience. A client gave me a bag containing three voltage regulators and hair attachment to send to Gabon. The NDLEA at SAHCOL, while searching the luggage dismantled the voltage regulators and found five parcels of substance that tested positive for cocaine in one of the regulators,” Nyeaka stated. The man who has five married further said that he wasn’t aware of the content of the luggage.

The Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade said that the Agency would continue to keep a close watch over Nigeria-Brazil route while other African routes are being re-classified in line with current risk levels.  “The NDLEA will continue to keep a close watch over Nigeria-Brazil route because of the high number of arrests and seizures made on the route. Recent drug seizures on some African routes have equally placed them on a high risk platform. We must continue to adopt effective strategies in preventing the sub-region from being used as a drug hub”, Giade stated. He promised that the suspect would be charged to court as soon as possible.

Six months ago, officers of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), arrested three customs licensed clearing and forwarding agents and a motorcycle parts dealer for allegedly aiding in shipping illicit drugs into the country.

The suspects are being interrogated in connection with three shipments of methamphetamine meant for export to Malaysia on an Ethiopian Airways flight at the MMIA, Lagos.

NDLEA says the drug weighing 70.4kg has an estimated street value of N352 million.

The names of the three agents released by the NDLEA commander at the Lagos Airport, Mr. Hamza Umar, are Adewuyi Segun, 45 years, Atebata Godwin, 27 years and Akpaida Kareem Ajayi, 33 years. A 36-year-old motorcycle parts dealer at Nnewi, Anambra State, Ukpabi Paul, was also arrested.

According to Hamza, “the methamphetamine consignments include 32.7kg which was brought by Adewuyi Segun; there was another 20kg which was brought by Ukpabi Paul. Akpaida Kareem Ajayi as well Atebata Godwin brought 17.7kg. All the suspects are co-operating with investigators.”

Ukpabi Paul hails from Imo State, but sells motorcycle parts at Nnewi.

Reacting over his ordeal, Paul appealed for mercy stating that he was a first time offender.

In his words, “I am married and have three children. My role was to give the drug to a clearing agent, by name Akpaida Kareem Ajayi. Please, be merciful on me, it is my first time”. Akpaida Kareem Ajayi in his statement blamed his involvement on greed and desire to make quick money. “I have myself to blame because they paid me N500, 000 to send the shipment,” he stated.

 “I agreed to participate in the illegal deal because of the half-million naira that I was offered”. Akpaida Kareem and Atebata Godwin are from Edo State while Adewuyi Segun hails from Oyo State.

Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade said those who engage in criminal acts should expect the ‘Day of Judgment’.

“It is sad that these customs licensed agents have acted contrary to the NDLEA Act in pursuit of selfish and criminal interest. The Agency will continue to make drug trafficking unattractive”, he said.

“Our objective is to prevent drug syndicates from enjoying the financial incentives of the criminal trade. All four suspects will soon be charged to court,” Giade assured.

In 2010, NDLEA smashed a notorious drug trafficking gang operating in the country with stronghold in Pakistan. To financially incapacitate their businesses and repatriate the illicit proceeds from their drug deals, the anti-narcotic agency also sealed off two boutiques in Lagos and other valuable assets including a posh utility vehicle belonging to the suspected drug barons.

All four suspected members of the cartel had a clearing and forwarding agent who plies his trade at the Lagos airport. He was arrested for facilitating the drug deal.

He was alleged to be working for three business men believed to be the brain behind the illicit drug trafficking gang. The suspects are on trial at a Federal High Court in Lagos.

They were arrested on Friday, January 22, 2010, in connection with the unlawful importation of 2.4 kilogrammes of heroin from Lahore, Pakistan. The estimated street value of the drug was put at N23million.

The consignment of garments and sports goods with airway bill number 176-1503 6324 was sent on an Emirates flight. In the airway bill, it was marked a sample shipment with no commercial value but buried inside it were six parcels of powdery substance found to be heroin weighing 2.4kg.

The crackdown exposed how clearing agents played key roles in the criminal acts of drug dealing in Nigeria using boutique business as a hoax in smuggling illicit drugs.

All the suspects involved in the illicit transaction starting from the barons to the clearing agents are facing trial in the law courts.

Ahmadu Giade, the drug czar had vowed to unveil drug barons and clearing agents with more offensive in the offing. Giade commended the officers over what he described as ‘proactive and thorough investigation’. Giade said, “This is a model case where officers displayed a rare investigative dexterity. All parties to the crime were successfully arrested. Several other cases under intense surveillance are near completion and more barons shall be unveiled. My operational promise to Nigerians is that they will soon know those behind the illicit trade and also see them brought to book.”

He further stated that a team of investigators had moved in to speedily complete investigation into the case preparatory to the arraignment of all suspects.

Alhaji Hamza Umar gave the name of the clearing and forwarding agent as Andrew Omoigui, 38, while other suspected drug barons are Monday Paul Edeh, 38, a.k.a. Molue; Chidi Ugbaja, 33, and Marcel Chibueze Udeze, 36.

Preliminary findings by the anti-narcotic agent linked the suspects to a notorious drug trafficking cabal operating in the country with affiliates in Pakistan.

The suspected kingpin of the drug syndicate, Marcel Chibueze Udeze, was equally found to have been deported from China twice.

He conspired with Chidi Ugbaja who once lived in China and Monday Paul Edeh to import the drug. Andrew was said to have demanded for the sum of one million naira to clear the goods having been told that the consignment contained heroin.

Daily Newswatch gathered that the money was however paid into his bank account. Andrew was a senior clearing and forwarding agent with over 14 years experience. Other members of the drug gang operate boutique business as a cover-up.

If convicted by the law court, the accused persons could spend 25 years each in prison custody under the NDLEA Act.

 As if that wasn’t enough, in 2012, Ahmadu Giade said three clearing agents were arrested at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, for trying to export drugs.

Giade said through Mitchell Ofoyeju, head of the agency's public affairs, that the agents were arrested in connection with illicit drugs. He said Giade had advised clearing agents nationwide to properly know their customers, adding that the law would run its full course on them if they were found wanting.

Giade said the three agents arrested were workers of the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO), adding that they were apprehended for attempting to smuggle two consignments of methamphetamine on an Emirates flight to Malaysia.

He added that the drugs, weighing 36.44kg, were concealed in foodstuffs and laptop bags, and declared as personal effects by the consignor

“Following the discovery of the drug, we arrested three clearing agents and they are currently being interrogated. The total weight of methamphetamine found in both packages is 36.44kg”, he stated.

“The first consignment of methamphetamine hidden in garri, dry fish and yams, weighed 6.95kg, while the second weighing 29.48kg was hidden in laptop bags”.

Giade said that the agents were expected to take necessary precautionary measures, such as knowing their customers and checking any consignment for shipment.

He noted that the Agency would continue to prosecute agents whenever drugs are detected in the cargo they are processing. NDLEA however dismissed the claim by the suspects that they thought the drug was food seasoning.

“Investigations have commenced and we hope to apprehend other persons connected with the illegal shipment,” Giade promised.