Nigeria Content Online

The National Drug
Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Tuesday commenced surveillance on
another suspected cocaine container belonging to the Chinese drug
suspects arrested last week in Lagos.

According to the
anti-narcotics agency, investigation into the unlawful importation of
the 450.4kg of cocaine by the Chinese suspects revealed that there was
yet another container imported by them.

“Documents
recovered from the suspects confirmed the importation of the second
container into the country by another ship,” said Ahmadu Giade, chief
executive of the agency.

Mr. Giade
disclosed that the shipment was successfully tracked by the agency in
collaboration with the British Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA),
and the United States Drug Enforcement Agency and was found to have
arrived Tin Can Island Port, Lagos.

The anti-drug
peddling boss said that the container will be publicly examined at the
port in collaboration with other security and government agencies.

“The discovery was
due to diligent investigation on the case involving the 450.4kg of
cocaine seizure worth over N4 billion. We are going to examine the
container publicly at the port in the presence of other security
officials,” he said. “The said container has been rated by the
anti-narcotic Agency as high risk and will be given 100 percent
physical examination.”

No politician involved

Mitchell Ofoyeju,
spokesperson for the agency said that, so far no politician has been
linked to the unlawful importation, and that the claims on the bill of
laden that a politician has hands in the deal is false.

According to him,
the first cocaine container was imported with a bill of laden bearing
one “Honourable Mike Njoku of No. 4 Balogun Street, Maryland Lagos.”
The agency’s spokesperson disclosed that the address was found to be
fake as there is no Balogun Street in Maryland.

“However, the
consignee’s telephone number given on the shipping document was that of
one of the Chinese suspects. The bill of laden also states that the
first container contained personal effects,” he said.

Two Chinese
business men, Richard Wang, 62; and Chiusen Fong, 54; in collaboration
with a Nigerian clearing agent, Inua Mohammed, 56; are being detained
by the NDLEA following the cocaine seizure of last week.

Meanwhile, the clearing agent denied knowing that the container is stashed with cocaine.

“I am a clearing
agent. Richard Wang came to me to clear a container. He told me the
container contained cigarettes and gave me N3 million for the
clearance. It was after my boys cleared it out of the port that NDLEA
officers intercepted them,” he said in a statement from the agency.