A Nigerian footballer based in Tanzania named Seriki Muktar Adebayo, has explained why he took drug trafficking as another trade.
Adebayo, who was arrested for drug trafficking by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, on Thursday, disclosed that he had no choice than to embrace the illicit trade “After a fruitless search for a football club in Tanzania for some months.”
He said he then moved to Mozambique, still, he could not secure a club.
According to him, “In the process, I exhausted my money and was stranded. I was so disappointed and frustrated that I needed to return home. At that point, I had no choice than to agree to smuggle drugs. I regret my action.”
Adebayo, 26, was nabbed with 2.070 kgs of heroin onboard an Ethiopian Airline flight from Mozambique.
He was arrested alongside one Rita Godfrey, 46, who collected 1.525kg of cocaine while at the airport in Dubai, on her way from Spain.
The wraps of cocaine were packed inside duty-free polythene bag. She was intercepted during inward screening of passengers, on an Emirate flight from Dubai. Rita said that she was promised N500,000 to smuggle the drugs from Dubai.
She added: “I am a trainee fashion designer living in Spain. I had financial problem and was introduced into drug trafficking by a friend.
“They told me that somebody would give me the drug while on transit in Dubai. While at the airport, a man approached me and asked if I was Rita. He introduced himself; he said he was from my friend and gave me the drug in a duty free bag.
“I was surprised when the drug was discovered here because it was not hidden at all. I never checked it. I just kept it in my bag the way it was given to me.”
The Chairman of NDLEA, Colonel Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah (rtd.), promised to dismantle drug syndicates in the country.
