WASHINGTON – For the second time this month, authorities at Washington Dulles International Airport arrested a man on heroin smuggling charges.
U.S. Custom and Border Protection agents say Michael Babatune Ayodele, 19, from Queens, N.Y. passed 55 thumb-sized pellets while being questioned during a secondary inspection.
Ayodele arrived Jan. 16 aboard a flight from Nigeria via Kenya and Zurich, Switzerland. Customs officers detected inconsistencies with Ayodele’s story about allegedly visiting family in Nigeria.
While being questioned, Ayodele asked to use the bathroom, which is where he passed the heroin-filled pellets.
Officers took Ayodele to a local hospital where he passed an additional 31 pellets, also filled with heroin.
The 86 pellets had a combined weight of 1,089 grams, or more than 2 pounds, 6 ounces, and an approximate street value of about $78,000.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia is prosecuting Ayodele.
Customs officers arrested Ayodele 13 days after they arrested Nigerian Adekunle Titus Adetokunbo, 61, for attempting to smuggle 446 grams, or nearly 16 ounces of heroin from Nigeria via Ghana Jan. 6.
“These continuing heroin smuggling attempts from Africa raise serious concern for Customs and Border Protection officers,” said Christopher Hess, CBP Port Director for the Port of Washington, D.C. “We’re hopeful that these arrests send a strong signal that CBP officers are proving successful at detecting internal concealment methods, and that we’re serious about intercepting this deadly poison before it can reach our communities.”
Customs officers turned Ayodele and the suspected heroin over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations agents.
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