The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says its operatives have arrested a 25-year-old businessman, Lovely Chukwulobelu, for allegedly attempting to traffic 72 wraps of cocaine to Portugal, where he resides.
Femi Babafemi, NDLEA director of media and advocacy, said in a statement on Sunday that Chukwulobelu was arrested at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, on Thursday, September 25, while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Portugal via Addis Ababa.
Babafemi said the suspect had ingested the cocaine and was intercepted by operatives at the airport’s departure hall.
He said Chukwulobelu, who had a wedding ring on his finger, was subsequently placed under excretion observation and egested all 72 wraps of the Class A illicit drug.
According to the NDLEA spokesperson, the suspect claimed he was into car decoration at the Trade Fair Complex in the Ojo area of Lagos before relocating to Portugal in May 2023.
The suspect said he recently returned to Nigeria and got married on September 13, adding that he resorted to the alleged criminal trade to offset expenses incurred during his wedding.
Meanwhile, Babafemi added that NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, have seized 2.55 million pills of tramadol and tapentadol weighing 1,640.55kg.
He said the seizure was made on Tuesday, September 22, during a joint examination of three monitored consignments at the airport’s import shed.
“The consignments, imported from India and Bangladesh through Qatar Airways, RwandAir and Ethiopian Airlines, contained Tramaking 225mg, Tramaking 250mg and Royal Tapentadol 250mg,” Babafemi said.
“In Bauchi, two suspects, Umar Hamidu, 35, and Abdulkarim Salihu, 45, were arrested along the Maiduguri bypass with 300 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 262.5kg.
“The cannabis was allegedly concealed in a false bottom of a truck marked MUB757 YH.”
In Edo, Babafemi said NDLEA officers, supported by soldiers, destroyed two cannabis farms at Eko Camp, Ilushi, on Wednesday, September 23. The farms had a combined estimated yield of 1,360.23kg of cannabis.
In Lagos, two women, Odumabo Kehinde, 36, and Obiekwe Chioma, 40, were arrested on Saturday, September 26, during a raid on Anifowoshe Street, Mushin, where 3.4kg of skunk was recovered.
Also in Lagos, NDLEA operatives intercepted a 58-year-old man, Ugwu Johnson, at Ebute-Ero motor park on the same day.
Babafemi said Johnson was found with 5.920kg of skunk, 2,400 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 8,400 tablets of nitrazepam and 40,000 pills of tramadol.
In Oyo, two Togolese nationals, Yinusa Abdulsamad, 35, and Fatai Baba, 33, were arrested along the Iganna-Ilero road in Iganna on Saturday.
The suspects were allegedly found with 305.6kg of skunk concealed in two pickup vans.
The NDLEA said the vans were being used to move cannabis sourced from Ghana into Nigeria through the Oyo axis.
At the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, five suspects were also arrested with 420 cartons of nitrous oxide, popularly known as laughing gas, weighing 1,688.4kg.
The suspects are Kingsley John, 40; John Chibuike Okeke, 44; Lamidi Ismaila, 40; Babatunde Samuel, 42; and Afeesu Idowu, 47.
Two vehicles allegedly used to transport the consignment from the border into Lagos were also recovered.
