Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA), have arrested a Brazil returnee, Udechukwu Theophilus at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, (MMIA) Ikeja Lagos for ingesting 60 big wraps of cocaine.

The Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Mr Femi Babafemi said this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.

Babafemi said that the suspect was arrested during inward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airlines flight from Sao Paulo, Brazil via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at the D-Arrival Hall of the Lagos airport on Sunday January 21.

He said that the suspect initially refused to undergo body scan, raising health concerns in a desperate bid to evade arrest.

According to him, when he was however, offered other options, he accepted to be placed on excretion observation.

“Shortly after he was ushered into NDLEA observatory, he excreted the first set of cocaine pellets, after which he expelled a total of 60 wraps of the class A drug weighing 1.279 kilograms in five excretions

“In his statement, Udechukwu claimed he ingested the consignment in Brazil and was to discharge everything at the airport in Addis Ababa.

“He could only excrete 15 pellets which he handed over to another member of his syndicate before his connecting flight to Nigeria was called, “he said.

Meanwhile, Babafemi said that a suspect, Shamwilu Idris, 29, was arrested at Gadar Tamburawa area on Thursday Jan. 25 with 271kg cannabis in Kano state.

This, he said followed the seizure of an abandoned 28.1kg of same substance at Rijiyar Lemo area of the state on Wednesday Jan. 24.

“Another suspect, Abubakar Salisu, 24, was nabbed at Kotun Wambai, Yan Awaki, area of Kano on Friday Jan. 26 with 600 bottles of codeine-based syrup.

“A total of 1, 306 blocks of cannabis weighing 886kg seized by the Police at Kwanar Dangora, area of the state were transferred to the Agency on Wednesday Jan. 24.