The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency charged four hard drug syndicates with illegally importing prohibited substances in a Federal High Court in Lagos State on Thursday.
Ogunmeru Oluwafunsho, 49, Adewale Adegbeti, 42, Adeleke Abdulrazaq, 43, and Dairo Quam, 22, were arraigned before Justice Daniel Osiagor.
The NDLEA has filed two counts against them, one for conspiracy and the other for illegal drug exportation.
The prosecutor, Augustine Nwagu, told the court that the defendants were arrested on March 10, 2023, at the SAHCO import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos State, during the inward clearance of Cargo on an Ethiopian airline flight from Johannesburg, South Africa, via Addis Ababa.
He said all the defendants conspired among themselves to illegally and unlawfully export to the country, 11.90 kilograms of heroin and 500 grams of cannabis Sativa.
However, the defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Following their plea of not guilty, Nwagu asked the court for a trial date and also urged the court to remand them in prison till the determination of the charge against them.
But their lawyers, Benson Ndakara and Uche Okoronkwo, urged the court to admit bail to their clients, adding that two of the defendants were suffering from ailments that the correctional services could not handle.