By Evelyn Usman

A 57-year-old grandmother, who was on a pilgrimage to Jeddah, Saudi-Arabia, has been arrested with 1.595kg of cocaine, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

The suspect,Odeyemi Omolara Morayo, a textile merchant at Balogun Market, Lagos, allegedly concealed the two parcels of white powdery substance that later   tested positive to cocaine  inside her luggage.

Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, Nigeria

Explaining how she was arrested, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Commander at the Lagos airport, Ahmadu Garba, said: “Odeyemi Omolara Morayo, with a valid Egypt air ticket from Lagos to Saudi Arabia, has been arrested with 1.595kg of cocaine. The cocaine concealed in a false bottom   of her bag, was discovered during routine check on passengers at the departure hall. We had to cut the bag open to recover the cocaine because of the way it was neatly concealed. She was immediately arrested and the case is currently under investigation.”

In her statement to anti-narcotic agents, Morayo claimed that her friend and customer  introduced her into drug trafficking.

In his reaction, Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Col Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah (retd), who described the suspect’s action as condemnable, said: “Smuggling cocaine to Saudi Arabia under any guise is condemnable. It is good that she was arrested here because drug trafficking attracts capital punishment in Saudi. Apart from saving her from execution in Saudi, the prompt arrest also protected our country from disrepute. The agency will not relent in the fight against illicit drug production, trafficking and abuse”.