India-bound ‘couple’ excretes 184 wraps of cocaine, woman hides drug in private part

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has made a significant breakthrough in intercepting a fake couple attempting to smuggle cocaine to India. The suspects, identified as Mr. Ilonzeh Kingsley Onyebuchi and Mrs. Ilonzeh Roseline Nonyelum (later revealed to be Ngogbike Nkechi), were apprehended at the Screening Point 1, Terminal 1 of the international wing of Lagos airport on August 1, 2023, while trying to board an Ethiopian airline flight to India.

The NDLEA’s vigilance and swift action came into play when an officer decided to subject the couple to a body scan. The scan confirmed the presence of ingested drugs in both individuals, leading to their subsequent placement on excretion observation at the agency’s facility.

While their travel documents indicated they were a couple named Ilonzeh Kingsley Onyebuchi and Ilonzeh Roseline Nonyelum, further investigation revealed that they were not genuinely married but had obtained the documents under false pretenses to evade security checks at the airport. The female suspect, later identified as Ngogbike Nkechi, confessed that she was recruited for the illicit drug business in her church in Aba, Abia State.

According to her statement, the man she was traveling with, Kingsley, was not her husband but merely a connection for the drug trafficking operation. Ngogbike Nkechi revealed that Kingsley brought the pellets of cocaine to her hotel room in separate rooms, where she ingested them the previous day before their planned departure.

The shocking discovery did not end there. During a thorough search, NDLEA operatives found a large wrap of cocaine weighing 100 grams hidden in Nkechi’s private part. She admitted that she was promised a substantial sum of Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000) upon successful delivery of the drug in India.

Kingsley, who claimed to be in the clothing business in Onitsha, Anambra State, disclosed that he was also promised Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000) for successfully delivering the drug in India. Further investigation revealed that Kingsley had been previously arrested by NDLEA operatives at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja on March 19, 2022, for ingesting 100 wraps of cocaine weighing 2.243 kilograms.

At that time, he was using the fake identity Uwaezuoke Ikenna Christian. He was arraigned in court and granted bail, but unfortunately, he was intercepted again at Lagos airport on August 1, 2023, for a similar offense while still on bail.

In total, Kingsley (aka Uwaezuoke Ikenna Christian) excreted 82 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.822 kilograms in five excretions, while Nkechi (aka Ngogbike Nkechi) egested 101 wraps in four excretions, with an additional sizable wrap recovered from her private part, weighing 1.50 kilograms.

The NDLEA has once again demonstrated its commitment to curbing drug trafficking and apprehending those involved in illegal activities. These arrests serve as a strong warning to individuals attempting to engage in such criminal acts. The agency remains vigilant in its efforts to protect society from the dangers of drug abuse and trafficking.