The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has warned commercial drivers and other transport workers against accepting parcels whose contents they do not know, after a driver was nearly implicated in a drug trafficking case.
The warning was contained in a Facebook post on Sunday by Femi Babafemi, NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, accompanied by videos showing operatives discovering drug substances concealed inside an energy drink bottle.
Babafemi said a commercial bus driver had accepted a bottle of Fearless energy drink in Lagos as a waybill package for delivery to Ondo State, believing it contained only the beverage.
According to him, the bottle was instead used to conceal Colos and methamphetamine.
‘When they say don’t judge a book by its cover, it’s for a reason. A commercial bus driver spent some time in custody and would have ended in jail because he assumed a bottle of fearless energy drink given him as a waybill package in Lagos to deliver in Ondo state actually contains energy drink. However, as this video reveals, the energy drink bottle was used to conceal Colos and Meth,’ Babafemi wrote.
The agency said the officers were able to track and arrest the person who gave the driver the package, preventing the driver from being left solely responsible for the drugs found in the parcel.
‘He may be lucky to have escaped gaol because[ NDLEA NIGERIA] officers who made the discovery were able to track and arrest the person who gave him the package, your own case may be devoid of such luck and you go in for it. As drivers or whoever, please avoid taking parcels you don’t know its content because possession makes you culpable, that’s the law and you go explain tire!’ the NDLEA spokesman post added.
Babafemi urged drivers and other members of the public to avoid accepting parcels without knowing their contents, warning that possession of illicit drugs could expose them to criminal liability.