NDLEA arrests South Africa-based Pastor   with drugs worth N1.4bn

 

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency says it has arrested a 52-year-old evangelist, John Arinze, over his attempt to export N1.4bn worth of narcotics to South Africa.It said the drugs, made of 92kgs of methamphetamine and 73kgs of ephedrine, were detected inside two containers of foodstuff meant for export to South Africa at the Apapa Seaport in Lagos.

A statement by the NDLEA spokesperson, Mitchell Ofoyeju, on Friday said the suspect, who is a Nigerian based in South Africa, was under interrogation following an intense undercover operation by the agency and that he had confessed to the crime. He added that sniffer dogs belonging to the agency detected the drugs during screening operation. The statement partly read, “During examination of the containers marked MSKU 388274-1 and MSKU 424717-0; anti-narcotic officials detected 20kg of Methamphetamine and 50kg of Ephedrine inside the first container. Also, 72Kg of Methamphetamine and 23Kg of Ephedrine were detected in the second container. The total weight of the drugs is 165kg. “Officers successfully traced the illicit consignment to a fifty-two year old man who claimed to be an evangelist by name John Vincent Arinze who was arrested in his hotel room in Lagos. A Mercedes Benz sport utility vehicle belonging to him was also impounded at the time of arrest. The suspect hails from Ara village, Nise in Awka South Local Government Area of Anambra State. John who had lived in South Africa for over a decade accepted ownership of the illicit shipment.”

 

 

The statement noted further that the drugs were hidden inside packs of melon, concealed in foodstuff and cosmetics such as gaari (cassava flakes), noodles, food seasoning, yam powder, some  alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, pepper, milk, herbal hair cream and cereals. Other items in the container were said to include hair cream, bags of melon, kegs of palm oil, beans, biscuits and sardine. The suspect was said to have told the operatives in his statement that he made a “big mistake” by taking over the business of his late wife, who was into drug trafficking.“I am an evangelist living in Durban South Africa. My late wife was into drug trafficking before she died few years ago. I made a mistake venturing into her business. It is my fault,” he was quoted as saying.

According to the statement, the Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Col. Muhammad Abdallah (retd.) said the seizure would have a positive influence on the campaign against narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances in the country. Abdallah was quoted as saying “This is a product of careful planning and meticulous tracking of narcotic drugs movement. The consignments were closely monitored by our undercover agents and intercepted at Apapa Seaport, Lagos following the detection of narcotics by NDLEA sniffer dogs during screening

 

 

 

Street hawkers, buyers- to pay  N90, 000 or a six month jail term as fine

The Lagos State Government said on Friday that it had begun a total enforcement of the law prohibiting street trading and hawking.The state government said that the law would be implemented in every part of the state. The state governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, said during a live programme on Television Continental that the renewed enforcement was in line with Section One of the Lagos State Street Trading and Illegal Market Prohibition Law 2003. The governor, while sympathising with the family of a street hawker who was knocked down by an articulated truck while trying to evade arrest from officials of Kick Against Indiscipline  along Maryland Bus stop on Wednesday, regretted that the situation led to the destruction of public assets. He said, “It is not in our DNA to allow someone to just die by road accident or the way it happened in respect of the incident. But beyond the fact that we lost one person while crossing the road as a result of evading arrest by KAI officials, I need to tell Lagosians that over 49 buses were actually destroyed and it is costing us like almost N139m to put those buses back on the road.”

The governor added that the state executive council consequently resolved to enforce the law, which according to him, makes hawkers and buyers liable of the offence. Ambode said, “The issue is we need to enforce our laws because we already have a law in respect of that and then there is a clause in it which says the buyer and the seller are both liable and that we are going to fine them either N90, 000 or a six month jail term. “What we are doing on traffic is that we are introducing new strategies to eliminate traffic, but Lagos, being a cosmopolitan city, you cannot totally eliminate it but now this is the case, in the next few days, you will see on the street of Lagos signs that will be warning you that buyers and hawkers should be aware that there are consequences.”  He said his administration had also concluded plans to roll out a campaign which would warn motorists and hawkers of the restrictions and the penalty for defaulters.