I thought I’d expelled all drugs in Qatar –Courier

[Mirror]

Chibuzor Simeon Elioku flew into Doha, the capital city of Qatar, recently from Brasilia in Brazil, where he had been living for some time now. Elioku, 28, sells auto spare parts in Lagos before he jetted out to the South American country for greener pastures. On settling in Brazil, Elioku was introduced into the drug business and he immediately bought into the idea.

His appointed time came recently when his principals in the illicit drug deal informed him that he would take a consignment to Doha, Qatar. So last week, Elioku, with Nigerian passport number A02717046, was scheduled to fly into Doha where he was to deliver a consignment of banned substances later tested positive to be cocaine.

He was made to ingest 80 wraps in Brazil enroute Doha. Elioku did fly into Doha, but the contact in the Middle Eastern country failed to show up at the airport to receive the 'goods'.

A confused Elioku thought it wise to excrete the ingested drugs, which he did eventually. Feeling safe and confident that he already excreted all the drugs, Elioku took the next available flight to Lagos. But unknown to the Anambra Stateborn auto part seller, he only excreted 74 wraps into sewage in Doha. He was left with six more wraps stashed in his stomach.

During the inward passengers check at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos State, Elioku was detected through the aid of body scanning machines. He was immediately apprehended and placed on observation from where he excreted the remaining six wraps.

In his confessional statement before anti- narcotics agents, Elioku maintained that he truly ingested the drugs but thought he had expelled all 80 wraps in Doha, not knowing that six were still in his stomach.

"They promised to pay me $2, 000 to smuggle the drugs from Brazil to Doha. When I got to Doha, the person who ought to collect the drug from me failed to show up. It was for fear of being caught that made me to dispose the drugs in Doha. I was very confident on arrival because I did not know that six wraps were still in my stomach," Elioku stated.

Reacting to his arrest, Chairman of the NDLEA Alhaji Ahmdu Giade said that there is always a judgement day for criminals. "The suspect thought that he had excreted everything, little did he know that six wraps were still in his stomach. This is a clear indication that there is a judgement day for criminals. I want members of the public to learn from his experience and shun drug trafficking" Giade said.

National Mirror