The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 34-year-old convicted cocaine trafficker, Dunu Bethel Ebubechukwu, in Lagos over his alleged involvement in fresh drug trafficking activities.
Ebubechukwu was arrested on Friday, September 4, during a sting operation at Article Market, opposite Trade Fair Market in the Ojo area of Lagos. He was reportedly operating under the cover of a herbal tea business.
His arrest followed the interception of 1.2 kilogrammes of cocaine concealed inside phone chargers at a courier company in Lagos on July 31. The consignment was reportedly being sent to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
According to the NDLEA, its Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) spent several weeks gathering intelligence and tracing the shipment before identifying Ebubechukwu as the alleged mastermind.
The agency said the suspect admitted to investigators that he had masterminded drug shipments in the past. He also reportedly discarded his telephone SIM card after learning that the latest cocaine consignment had been intercepted.
Further investigation revealed that Ebubechukwu had previously been arrested in 2011 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos after he was found to have ingested 900 grammes of cocaine and 130 grammes of heroin while attempting to travel to Austria.
He was prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to five years in prison. The agency said that after serving his sentence, he changed his name from Dunu Chukwuyenre Enoch to Dunu Bethel Ebubechukwu and allegedly returned to drug trafficking.
A search of his residence in Ejigbo, Lagos, also led to the recovery of phone chargers similar to those allegedly used to conceal the intercepted cocaine. The chargers had been modified by removing their internal components to create space for the drugs.
The arrest was part of a wider NDLEA operation conducted across nine states, which also resulted in the seizure of various illicit drugs and the arrest of other suspects.
