Drug Trafficking: Lagos Pastor Nabbed

The resident pastor of the Eternal Sacred Order of Cherubim and Seraphim at Agodo-Egbe, Ikotun Lagos, was apprehended as he tried to smuggle 174 kilogrammes of hard narcotic drugs to South Africa at the cargo section of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) during pre-shipment examination.

The pastor found with the drugs

Speaking on the development, NDLEA said, “preliminary investigation has indicated that the 60 year old suspect Michael Raji is a top member of a drug syndicate operating in Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa.”
It was also revealed that the pastor had three international passports bearing his photographs but different names. One of passports beared Micheal Raji while the other two beared Kadigun Fatah Ola.
NDLEA said the pastor used the church were he preached as a warehouse for narcotics.
The pastor attempted to smuggled 91kg of Methamphetamine and 83kg of Ephedrine with an estimated street value of N609 million inside large bags of foodstuffs.
A Mercedes Benz Jeep was also impounded at his compound during a raid.
NDLEA commander at the Lagos Airport, Mr. Hamza Umar describing the events said,“I can tell you that this suspect is a smooth operator but we have uncovered his bag of tricks. The drugs were brought to the airport for export to South Africa where it was detected. Investigation eventually traced the movement of the drugs to his church premises where he was arrested.”
The suspect told NDLEA that he collected the drugs from a friend.
In a related development, NDLEA officials at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, arrested a Lagos pastor for drug trafficking.
The suspect, Daniel Lanre Akintola, 43, was found with 1.978kg of heroin concealed in a false bottom of his luggage.