Desired drug lord apprehended by NDLEA, who used fictitious couple smugglers

Ngene Emmanuel Onyedikachi, a drug kingpin who recruited fictitious couples to transport drugs, was apprehended in Lagos on August 1, 2023, according to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.

Meanwhile, several types of hard drugs were found throughout the nation in various operations.This was said in a statement signed by the organization’s director of media and advocacy, Femi Babafemi, and posted on the agency’s website on Sunday.

Recall that on August 6, 2023, a reporter had reported on the NDLEA’s arrest of Ilonzeh Kingsley Onyebuchi and Ilonzeh Roseline Nonyelum, the fictitious couple, for consuming 184 wraps totaling 3.322 kilogrammes of cocaine, 100 grammes of which were also hidden in the woman’s vagina.

The statement claims that Onyedikachi was taken into custody by NDLEA agents on Friday at his home in Akoka, Yaba.

According to Babafemi, “On Friday, August 25, NDLEA agents were able to apprehend Ngene Emmanuel Onyedikachi, a drug trafficker. Onyedikachi was the one who enlisted the fictitious couple Ilonzeh Kingsley Onyebuchi and Ilonzeh Roseline Nonyelum, who were detained for consuming 1.50 kg and 1.822 kg of cocaine, respectively, at the Lagos airport on August 1, while they were travelling to India.

” Twenty-five days of intense surveillance later, the kingpin was apprehended at his home at 28 Afolabi Brown Street, Akoka, Yaba.According to him, the suspect admitted that a different syndicate member had introduced him to the fictitious pair. According to Onyedikachi, he left India for Nigeria in 2022 after disclosing his name to the Indian government.

“Onyedikachi admitted during his interview that he was introduced to the two suspects—Ilonzeh Kingsley Onyebuchi and Ilonzeh Roseline Nonyelum—by another syndicate member, whom he claimed he met at Zion Church in the Cele neighbourhood of Lagos. He clarified that Guinea Conakry was the source of the medication.

“The suspect disclosed that he threw away his old cell phone and SIM cards after learning about the fake couple’s arrest in order to avoid being tracked down. He also added that he felt at ease and wouldn’t leave his house because the two couriers didn’t know it because they had only met twice at different locations.

He claimed to have been residing in India before to his return to Nigeria in 2022, when he was caught by Indian police using an Ivory Coast International passport.

Among the things retrieved from his residence during his detention was a blue Acura Legend automobile, according to the statement.In the meantime, the agency declared that it had detained a number of people for drug-related offences across the nation, including Peter Iwebema, Ekechukwu Ndubuisi, Suleiman Babatunde Oba, Nafiu Arzika, Jamilu Aminu, and Ismaila Razak.

While his colleagues were detained at the Tincan port command, Iwebema was arrested for possessing cannabis sativa in the Ikorodu neighbourhood of Lagos state.”On Monday, August 28, operations of the Lagos State Command of the Agency apprehended Peter Iwebema, a suspect, at Ikorodu with 79 and a half bags of 864.5 kg of cannabis sativa; their counterparts at Tincan Port Command seized 27 parcels weighing 13.5 kg of Colorado cannabis.” During a cooperative inspection with Customs Service agents, the container, MSMU 5664550, travelling from Toronto via Montreal, Canada, was seized.

“Members of Transnational Drug Trafficking Organisations (DTO) were shipping various quantities of ephedrine, skunk, and nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas, to South Africa and Kenya through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja Lagos. Some of these individuals were immediately apprehended, their mansions searched, and their high-end vehicles seized,” the statement reads.

Attempting to board a Rwanda Air aircraft to South Africa on Friday, Oba—who possesses a South African passport—was apprehended with cartons containing ephedrine packaged in semovita packs.Suleiman Babatunde Oba, a well-known drug dealer who is a part of a cartel that distributes cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and ephedrine between Nigeria, Brazil, Ghana, South Africa, Mozambique, and Europe, was apprehended by NDLEA agents on Friday, August 25, based on reliable information.

When he tried to board a Rwanda Air trip to South Africa carrying two semovita-sealed boxes containing ephedrine, he was apprehended. The material that was recovered is an active component and precursor chemical in the manufacture of methamphetamine.

The head of the drug ring, according to Suleiman, who has a South African passport, is married to a South African woman, and has lived in South Africa for more than 20 years, is Hakeem Babatunde Salami, who also resides in Lagos.On Monday, August 28, a follow-up raid at Salami’s home at 75 Wosilatu Dawodu Street, Ijesha, Aguda area of Surulere, Lagos, discovered that he had left the nation the same day Suleiman was taken into custody.

But from the residence, they retrieved phones, important documents required for more inquiry, a Mercedes Benz SUV with the number plate LSD 998HP, and a white Toyota Venza automobile with registration number LSR 410 HT.Similarly, on Tuesday and Saturday, respectively, Arzika, Aminu, and Razak were taken into custody in Sokoto and Oyo states with various hard drug forms, including methamphetamine and skunk.