A 19‑year‑old Pakistani, Iftikihar Muhammed Arslan, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, for attempting to smuggle 25 parcels of heroin into the country

LAGOS — A 19‑year‑old Pakistani, Iftikihar
Muhammed Arslan, has been arrested by
operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement
Agency, NDLEA, for attempting to smuggle 25
parcels of heroin into the country.
The suspect, who claimed to be a student of
Punjab College in Pakistan, was apprehended at
the Murtala Muhammed International Airport
(MMIA), Lagos, by the operatives when the illicit
drug was discovered in his luggage during inward
screening of passengers on board a Qatar airline
flight.
Vanguard gathered that seized drugs weighing
25.400kg, have an estimated street value of
N228 million.
Preliminary investigation has shown that the
suspect left Lahore, Pakistan with the drugs to Abu
Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, then Doha, in Qatar,
from where he connected to Lagos. He is believed
to be working for a Pakistani drug cartel.
Spokesman of the agency, Mr Mitchell Ofoyeju,
who described the incident as the single largest
seizure of heroin at the Lagos airport since
January, said the NDLEA commander at the Lagos
Airport, Mr. Hamza Umar, found the 25 parcels of
brownish substance that tested positive for heroin
hidden in a smaller bag inside the suspect’s
luggage.
Ofoyeju said the suspect was cooperating with the
agency’s team of investigators.
Meantime, Arslan, who speaks English fluently,
confessed how he got the drugs.
According to him, “I am a student of Punjab
College and I am in Nigeria as a tourist because
my friend told me that Victoria Island and Ikoyi are
beautiful tourist centres. Unfortunately, when I
arrived at the Lagos airport, the heroin was found
in my luggage. This is my first time of coming to
Nigeria and I had intended to spend a week or
two.”
In his reaction, Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA,
Ahmadu Giade, who expressed delight over the
arrest, said Nigeria was winning the fight against
narcotics.
He said: “This arrest and seizure will further send
a warning to drug trafficking cartels that Nigeria is
winning the fight against narcotics. NDLEA is
prepared to halt the criminal activities of drug
barons through a coordinated drug detection
strategies. We are working very hard to also
identify other members of the criminal group.”