A 56 year- old member of Lagos major drug syndicate, Lawal Oyenuga,has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA)while on a mission to deliver 400 grammes of cocaine concealed in a pair of palm sandals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Following Orenuga’s arrest, a swift follow-up arrest of a wanted notorious kingpin, Wasiu Gbolahan popularly known as Teacher, who is notorious for the recruitment of mules for the cartel.
In a statement issued by the spokesman of NDLEA, Femi Babafemi,he said operatives of the anti-narcotics agency attached to the screening point of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos had on Thursday, 24th November intercepted Oyenuga with a pair of black palm sandals packed in the luggage he was going with to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia via Addis Ababa on an Ethiopian Airways flight.
Babafemi disclosed that a thorough examination of the sandals revealed they were used to conceal two parcels of cocaine weighing 400 grammes, noting that this was barely a week after a 56-year-old widow and mother of four, Mrs. Ajisegiri Sidika, was arrested at the airport over her attempt to traffic 400 grammes of cocaine concealed in her footwear to Makkah, Saudi Arabia on board a Qatar Airways flight.
The spokesman said Oyenuga, in his statement, claimed he was recruited to traffic the drug by Wasiu Gbolahan popularly known as Teacher, adding that he was first given some pellets of cocaine to swallow but when he couldn’t do that, he was given the ones concealed in the palm sandals.
He confessed to have resorted to the criminal trade to raise money to pay an examination fee for his daughter who is in Senior Secondary School (SSS) 3.
Babafemi said the agency’s database revealed that Wasiu Sanni (Teacher) has been linked to some previous attempts to traffic cocaine to Saudi Arabia and Dubai, UAE, and had been fingered as the one who recruited a BRT driver, Bolajoko Babalola, for Lagos socialite and owner of Adekaz Hotels, Alhaji Ademola Kazeem (a.k.a Alhaji Abdallah Kazeem Muhammed), to traffic drugs to Dubai.
Bolajoko was nabbed on 27th June while taking 900 grammes of cocaine to Dubai, while Ademola Kazeem was nabbed on Thursday, 10th November, barely 10 days after he was declared wanted by NDLEA.
Babafemi said a follow-up operation in the early hours of last Friday led to the arrest of the kingpin, Teacher, who specialises in recruiting mules for drug barons in Lagos and its environs at his residence located in Ikorodu area of Lagos.
The 64-year-old Gbolahan is a housing and property agent, with seven children and four wives, one of whom is now late.
He also revealed that in another follow-up operation to the seizure of 1.1 kilogrammes cannabis concealed in bottles of body cream going to Dubai on 9th September, the actual owner of the consignment, Wordu Chukwuemeka, who runs a boutique business in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, was arrested in the Garden City last Thursday.
In the same vein, operatives attached to NAHCO import shed of the Lagos airport last Tuesday intercepted a consolidated cargo from Johannesburg, South Africa via an Air Peace Airline flight.
The cargo contained different items, including cloths, cereals, baby toys, drinks and a set of two big black speakers, which were used to conceal 25 parcels of Loud variant of cannabis, with a gross weight of 5.5 kilogrammes.
Similarly, operatives attached to the SAHCO export shed of the airport same Tuesday intercepted a carton of food items used to conceal 500 grammes of cannabis going to Dubai, UAE while the owner, Uzoma Kingsley, was promptly arrested
