A 36-year-old suspected trans-border drug trafficker, identified as Nkem Timothy, alias Auwalu Audu, has been arrested in Sokoto by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency( NDLEA).
Timothy was nabbed while trying to cross to Algeria through the Niger Republic with 62 wraps of substance suspected to be cocaine weighing 1.550kg and with a projected street value of about N1bn.
Bamidele Segun, the Sokoto State acting Commander of the NDLEA, according to a statement by the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday, stated that the suspect was captured on a motorcycle around the Baggage area of the Illela border while trying to cross to the Niger Republic, en route Algeria, where he resides.
The NDLEA said the illegal drug was carefully hidden inside bottles of yoghurt.
“He was found with an ECOWAS passport with different names written as Auwalu Audu, but he gave his real name as Nkem Timothy,” the commander added.
He said his men had begun an investigation to unveil Timothy’s sponsors and other members of the trans-border drug cartel.
Segun added saying “This is a groundbreaking feat for us in the command as a seizure of this magnitude of type ‘A’ drug has never been made in Sokoto Command before,”.
