'I Buy Cannabis For N15,000 And Sell For N2.1m In China'

An astonishing discovery by the police in Lagos has finally led to the arrest of an international Indian hemp merchant who devices several means of exporting cannabis to China without detection by the officials at our international Airports. The suspect, Akande Abayode, who hails from Abeokuta, in Ogun State explains his circumstance in an encounter with XAVIER  NDAH. Excerpts:
Are you married?
Yes, with four children.
What do you do for a living?
I am an international business man.
What type of business are you into?
I sell and repair fridges.My workshop is located at Sango.
But why are you here?
I was caught with (pointing to the hemp and cylinders) in my house.
Where is that your house?
I am a resident of house number 11, Macaulay Street, Mushin.
How did you come up with the idea of stuffing contrabands in gas cylinders?
It is a sort of creativity. What I do is to cut the gas cylinders into two, pack the cannabis into a black nylon and carefully tucked them into the cylinder, then welds the cylinder, ready for export to China.
How would you pass the airport undetected?
There is no scanning machine that can detect it. That is why I normally use black nylon, first to wrap the substance before sealing the cylinders.
Do you have agents at the Airports to assist you to have free access?
I do not need that. I do not have any one. Therefore, such assistance is needless. It is a simple home grown ingenuity.
Who taught you this?
I developed it with my brain.
What is your level of education and where did you school?
I a m a holder of a class five certificate; and a product of Okota Memorial School, Lagos. I passed out in 1989.
How lucrative is this business of yours?
I bought this for N15,000 and if I have not been caught, it would have fetched me a cool N2.1M I sell one kilo for 400 yen over there.
Where exactly do you sell it in China?
In Beijing
How did you get to know about this business?
I got to know it through some Malians here in Nigeria. One of them Kolobari and I was able to make contact with some people in China.
Which of the Airlines do you normally use?
I use Emirate. I bought the ticket for N217000= the last time I went.
Who supply you with the stuff or do you have a farm for it?
One Bamidele Korede used to supply me .He is my partner in the business.
Meanwhile, police public relations officer, Zone Two, Mrs. Ekebe told Crime and Security that the suspect was arrested in his house following a tip-off that he was into exportation of weeds suspected to be Indian hemp.
“Zonal surveillance section, armed with the nugget of information swung into action and the suspect was arrested. During interrogation, it was gathered that the suspect employs an ingenious method in carrying out his barbaric trade. He conceals the weeds in Air conditioners gas cylinders for exportation to Libya through Niger Republic .The suspect confirmed to have exported some weeds to China in 2007 through the same method.
Ekebe said the government was somewhat embarrassed by the antics of the suspect. “So far, eight gas cylinders concealed stuffed with Indian hemp have been recovered from the suspect”. She sounded off.