A couple posing as travelers seeking medical treatment in India has been arrested at Lagos Airport after ingesting a significant amount of cocaine. The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) detained Kingsley and Roseline Ilonzeh for attempting to smuggle 184 wraps of cocaine weighing 3.322kg. Another 100 grams of the drug were concealed in the woman’s private part. The suspects were intercepted at the airport’s international wing, where they were preparing to board an Ethiopian airline flight to India.
Although the couple’s travel documents indicated that they were married with matching surnames, suspicions arose when an NDLEA officer decided to scan their bodies. The scans confirmed that they had ingested drugs, prompting the agency to place them under observation for excretion at their facility.
Further investigation revealed that the suspects were not actually a couple but had obtained matching travel documents to bypass security checks at the airport. Roseline, who had initially identified herself as Ilonzeh Roseline Nonyelum, later confessed her real name was Ngogbike Nkechi. According to her statement, she was recruited for the illicit drug business during her time at a church in Aba, Abia State, where she resides. She also admitted that Kingsley was not her husband, but rather someone she had connected with solely for the purpose of the drug trip.
Upon arrest, a thorough search of Roseline’s person led to the discovery of a large wrap of cocaine, amounting to 100 grams, which she had inserted into her private part. During questioning, she confessed that she had been promised $5,000 for successfully delivering the drugs in India.
Kingsley, who had been involved in the clothing business in Onitsha, Anambra State, claimed he was promised $2,000 for his part in the drug delivery. It was later discovered that he had obtained his travel documents using a fake identity. Furthermore, he had previously been arrested by the NDLEA at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja on March 19, 2022. On that occasion, he had swallowed 100 wraps of cocaine weighing 2.243kg upon arriving from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on an Ethiopian airline flight. At the time, his travel documents bore his real name, Uwaezuoke Ikenna Christian.
After his arrest in Abuja, Kingsley was arraigned before Justice Zainab Abubakar of the Federal High Court on charge number FHC/ABJ/CR/438/2022, alongside another suspect named Iro Elvis Uche. Uwaezuoke had ingested 65 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.376kg. He was granted bail pending the conclusion of his trial, but he was arrested again at Lagos Airport on August 1 for the same offense.
During their latest arrest, Kingsley excreted a total of 82 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.822kg, while Roseline expelled 101 wraps in four excretions, totaling 1.5kg.
