A 19 year old Pakistani student named Iftikihar Muhammed Arslan, (pictured above) has been arrested by officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency(NDLEA) for possession and attempted smuggling of 25.400kg of heroin said to be worth N228m into Nigeria, Vanguard reports
Arslan was apprehended at the Muritala
Mohammed International Airport during inward screening on passengers on board a
Qatar Airways flight. 25 parcels containing the hard drugs were discovered in
his luggage.
The suspect believed to be in a drug
cartel through his passport showed that he left Lahore, Pakistan with the drugs
to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, then Doha, in Qatar, from where he
connected to Lagos. Continue...
In his confessional statement, Arslan
denied knowledge of the drugs in his bag, saying he was here in Nigeria to
experience the beauty of Victoria Island and Ikoyi
"I am a student of Punjab College
and I am in Nigeria as a tourist because my friend told me that Victoria Island
and Ikoyi are beautiful tourist centres. Unfortunately, when I arrived at the
Lagos airport, the heroin was found in my luggage. This is my first time of
coming to Nigeria
and I had intended to spend a week or two.” he said.
Confirming the incident, the Chairman
of NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade said that this was the highest drug arrest they have
made since this year and it goes to show that NDLEA is winning the fight
against drug trafficking
"This arrest and seizure will
further send a warning to drug trafficking cartels that Nigeria is winning the
fight against narcotics. NDLEA is prepared to halt the criminal activities of
drug barons through a coordinated drug detection strategies. We are working
very hard to also identify other members of the criminal group" he said
No comments:
Post a Comment