Cocaine Laced Roasted Chickens Lead to Arrest of Nigerian Man in Lagos

 By Alicia Cruz
The Black Urban Times

Agents with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency arrested a Nigerian man they say lined $150,000 worth of cocaine into roasted chickens that flew into Lagos' Murtala Muhammed International Airport from Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The New York Daily News reported that Mitchell Ofoyeju, spokesman for the NDLEA, said scans of the birds uncovered 5.7 pounds of Cocaine wrapped in gold foil in the shape of eggs, which were then stuffed into the chickens. Officials have not said how they were tipped off about the laced birds.

The suspect, Vincent Chegini Chinweuwa, a mechanic and Nigerian native, had reportedly been living in the Southeastern Brazilian State of Sao Paulo for six years prior to his arrest.

Last month, NDLEA agents seized 8.5kg of methamphetamine (worth 27 million Naira) concealed inside metal pipes, which belonged to a phone accessories salesman from Ikeja, Lagos. The suspect, Afunaya Thaddeus Izunna, was a passenger on an Ethiopian airline enroute to New Delhi, India. That bust, according to NDLEA Airport Commander, Hamza Umar, was the largest recorded narcotic seizure in Murtala Muhammed International Airport's recent history.

Following the 2009 attempted bombing of a Detroit bound airline, Nigeria improved security training and airport scanners. The major improvements have placed a dent into the lucrative Nigeria drug pipeline from Latin America entering Europe or the United States. Ofoyeju added that the security improvements aided in the seizure of more than 900 pounds of cocaine and other narcotics, and the arrests of at least 100 drug couriers in 2011.