Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have disrupted the activities of a major cocaine syndicate in Lagos following the arrest of a 56-year-old trafficker, Lawal Lateef Oyenuga who was on a mission to deliver 400grams of the class A drug concealed in a pair of palm sandals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, who disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, November 27, 2022, said a swift follow up led to the arrest of a wanted notorious kingpin, Wasiu Sanni Gbolahan popularly known as Teacher, who recruits mules for the cartel.
“NDLEA operatives attached to the screening point of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos had on Thursday 24th November intercepted Lawal Lateef 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,” the statement read.
A thorough examination of the sandals revealed they were used to conceal two parcels of cocaine weighing 400 grams. This is barely a week after a 56-year-old widow and mother of four, Mrs. Ajisegiri Kehinde Sidika was arrested at the airport over her attempt to traffic 400 grams of cocaine concealed in her footwear to Makkah, Saudi Arabia on board a Qatar Airways flight.
In his statement, Oyenuga claimed he was recruited to traffic the drug by Wasiu Sanni 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 said he resorted to the criminal trade to raise money to pay an examination fee for his daughter who is in Senior Secondary School class 3.
The Agency’s database reveals Wasiu Sanni (Teacher) has been linked to some previous attempts to traffic cocaine to Saudi Arabia and Dubai, UAE.
He was earlier named as the one who recruited a BRT driver, Bolajoko Muyiwa Babalola for Lagos socialite and owner of Adekaz Hotels, Alhaji Ademola Afolabi Kazeem (a.k.a Alhaji Abdallah Kazeem Muhammed) to traffic drugs to Dubai.
Bolajoko was arrested on 27th June while taking 900 grams of cocaine to Dubai while Ademola Kazeem was nabbed on Thursday 10th November, barely 10 days after he was declared wanted by NDLEA.
Chairman of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa commended the officers and men of the MMIA Command of the Agency for their professionalism in the discharge of their duties and the remarkable results that followed.
He enjoined them and their compatriots across the country not to let down their guards as the nation approaches the festive season.
