[Straits Times] A NIGERIAN accused of leading an African drug trafficking syndicate that recruits Asian couriers was tossed in the slammer in Manila carrying half a kilogramme of cocaine, authorities said on Wednesday.Samuel Egbo, 34, and his female South Korean companion were caught on Tuesday when they met a Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency officer posing as a buyer in a McDonald's restaurant in the Philippine capital, they said.
'He is one of the main controllers in the Asia-Pacific region. He is the one who meets with the drug mules and arranges for their accommodations,' Jonathan Morales, an agent with the agency handling the case, told AFP.
Egbo was intending to sell the cocaine to the 'buyer' for 2.5 million pesos (S$72,000), Mr Morales said.
According to Mr Morales, Egbo is part of a group known as the West African Drug Syndicate - a collection of Nigerians based in Bangkok, Thailand, who operate in the Philippines, China, Singapore, Malaysia and Australia.
They recruit people to act as drug mules, paying them up to US$3,000 (S$3,700) each time they carry the contraband from one country to another, Mr Morales said.