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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC), has arrested a 60-year-old fish-farmer, Muyiwa Otuyalo, for attempting to smuggle in substance believed to be hard drug for his son, Damilola Otuyalo, who is currently in the custody of the commission’s Ibadan zonal office.
The fish farmer was at the premises of the EFCC in Ibadan on Monday, February 17, supposedly to visit his son. But while discussing with the son, an officer noticed that he brought out a sachet of tablets and handed it to him. The officer subsequently raised an alarm which led to the confiscation of the drug.
When the in-house nurse was called upon to assess the content, it was revealed that the tablet was Rohypnol, a tranquilizer used under strict prescription for the treatment of severe insomnia and assist in anesthesia.
The drug is said to possess high sedative effect and is rarely used except when prescribed by licensed medical officers.
Damilola was recently arrested after a criminal case of money laundering detected in the United Kingdom was reported against him. The case which involved £45,000 was a fragment of a wider one involving about £500,000 for which he has been declared wanted by the London’s Metropolitan Police. He has been on the wanted list of International Police(Interpol), before the petition was filed at the EFCC, Ibadan zonal office.
Operatives of Interpol in Nigeria were already in contact with the commission in respect of the said case before the suspect’s father attempted to smuggle in the hard drug for him.
Further investigations are ongoing as the commission intends to hand Otuyalo over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency(NDLEA) for possible prosecution.