NIGERIAN WOMAN ARRESTED FOR DEALING IN N)ARCOTICS (Page 3

23/05/2010
Story & Pictures: Mary Mensah
A 41-year-old Nigerian woman has been arrested by officials of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) for importing 80 kilogrammes of substances suspected to be heroin from Iran into the country.
The suspect, Nmerika Enock, had concealed the drug in eight huge metal blocks which, she claimed, were spare parts for vessels.
She was arrested at the Aviance Cargo Village, where she had gone to clear the eight metal blocks.
According to Mr Dickson Akatsa, the Head of Operations at NACOB, the board had identified some countries as sources of drugs and was, therefore, always thorough in its investigation of people or goods arriving from those countries.
He said on March 4, 2010 NACOB officials at the Aviance Cargo Village spotted eight metal blocks which had been imported from Iran whose covering papers indicated that they were gear boxes for the Hyundai Grace mini-bus.
He said the address of the consignee, when verified, turned out to be false so the cargo was set aside for a thorough inspection and she was arrested when the suspect showed up to clear the cargo the following day.
Mr Akatsa said upon interrogation, the suspect claimed to be a trader who dealt in spare parts and that the metal blocks were spare parts for vessels which she imported from Iran to be supplied to a customer whose name she could not mention.
He said the blocks were suspected to contain illicit materials so one of them was opened in the presence of the suspect and it turned out to contain a powdery substance and a field test conducted proved that it was heroin.
The suspect was then arrested, together with the eight packages, to the offices of NACOB for further investigations.
Mr Akatsa said when the remaining metal blocks were cut open by welders, they were each found to contain 10 parcels of heroin.
Enock told interrogators that she lived in Nigeria and had arrived the previous day in Accra to clear the cargo for somebody in Lagos.
The officials did not believe her story and when they persisted in interrogating her, she claimed she lived at Ofankor.
She then took NACOB officials to a house at Ofankor, where sources said she used to live about two years ago but she had not been seen in the area since she left there.
After several hours of interrogation, the suspect broke down and informed the officials that she lived in Tema with her accomplice boyfriend, Felix Odyh. She took them to house number D9 in Community 16.
On arrival in the house, according to Mr Akatsa, NACOB officials detected that Felix had packed some valuables out of the house and left in an Infinity Four Runner vehicle, with registration number Abuja BK -5333-YAB.
The NACOB officials also found five of the metals boxes that had previously been cleared from Aviance and the contents removed.
Mr Akatsa said importation documents found in the house showed that between 2008 and the time of her arrest, the suspect and her boyfriend had succeeded in importing and clearing 14 of the metal blocks into the country.
He said upon further interrogation, the suspect said after clearing the goods from Aviance, they used a huge metal device like a crane to dismantle the metal blocks and then sent their contents to one Daniel in Abuja through a certain Maxwell in Lagos.
Investigations are continuing into the case, after which the suspect will be arraigned.


CAPTION : Suspect Nmerika Enock, a 41-year-old Nigerian, with the metal blocks and some of the substances.