NDLEA Arrests Another Arik Air Staff For Smuggling Cocaine

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, yesterday, arrested another Arik Air staff, Mr.  Ikechukwu Oliver, an alleged accomplice in the smuggling of 20 kilogrammes of cocaine by Mr. Chika Udensi.

Udensi, a staff of the airline was arrested by the United Kingdom Border Force at Heathrow Airport, London, last Monday, with the drug.
The suspect, Oliver, who works as a catering loader, was found to have undermined airport security by concealing the cocaine in catering supplies.

Head, Public Affairs, NDLEA Mr. Ofoyeju Mitchell, said preliminary investigation revealed that both Oliver and Udensi had been infiltrated by a drug cartel.

Ofoyeju said Oliver revealed to anti-narcotic officers that it was Udensi that introduced him to illicit drug smuggling.
He said 35-year-old Oliver, who hails from Isialagwa North Local Government Area of Abia State, was normally paid N400,000 for smuggling drugs.

Oliver’s story

Narrating his ordeal, Oliver said he was brought into the illicit drug deal by his colleague, Mr. Chika Udensi, a senior member of Arik Air cabin crew, who was arrested in London on flight W3101.

He said: “It was Chika that introduced me into the drug deal. Whenever Chika gives me the drug, I will hide it in catering supplies.

“Chika knows where to collect the drug inside the flight. They pay me N400,000 per bag. I was expecting N1.2 million for the three bags that I smuggled into the aircraft.”

The graduate of Business Administration was employed by Arik Air in 2009.

Giade reacts

Meanwhile, NDLEA Chairman, Alhaji Ahmadu Giade, has ordered that henceforth all airport workers must be extensively screened.

The NDLEA boss stressed that all catering trucks, luggage trucks, aviation fuel tankers, machines and personnel, whose duty directly or indirectly relate to the tarmac and flight operations, shall be subjected to full screening.

He also noted that as part of investigation, the rented apartment of Mr. Chika at Pastor Ojediran Street Ejigbo, Lagos, was searched by operatives of the NDLEA.

Giade said: “Chika lives there with the mother and siblings, while his wife and children are based in Canada.

“The latest Range Rover car belonging to the prime suspect parked on the airline’s premises has also been moved to the NDLEA office as exhibit.”

Giade explained that the 20 kilogrammes of cocaine found with Chika in London was concealed within laptop bags, adding that the quantity and estimated street value of the cocaine was over N100 million.

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