The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has intercepted large consignments of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, skunk, and opioids in multiple operations across Nigeria, including at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, and in several northern states.
In a statement issued on Sunday by the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the Agency said two returnees from Brazil excreted a total of 116 wraps of heroin and cocaine after days in observatory custody, while other suspects were caught concealing drugs in unusual ways, including in underwear, food items, and phone chargers.
According to the agency, 46-year-old Ofoma Sunday was arrested on Tuesday, September 16, at Terminal 2 of MMIA on arrival from Brazil via Addis Ababa on an Ethiopian Airlines flight. A body scan confirmed ingestion of illicit drugs. He later excreted 111 wraps of heroin weighing 1.452kg in eight batches.
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A follow-up operation led to the arrest of 55-year-old Nweke Jude Chuckwudi at a hotel in Amuwo Odofin, Lagos, where he was meant to oversee the recovery of the drugs. Similarly, another Brazilian returnee, Ukachukwu Frank Ikechukwu, was arrested at the Lagos airport on Friday, September 19, during the clearance of Ethiopian Airlines passengers.
“A body scan confirmed he had concealed cocaine internally. Under medical observation, he excreted five wraps of cocaine weighing 145 grams. Ikechukwu confessed he had purchased nine wraps of cocaine in Brazil and inserted them into his anus but expelled some during his transit through Addis Ababa, leaving only five by the time he arrived in Nigeria,” the statement revealed.
In another incident, the NDLEA operatives arrested 38-year-old businesswoman, Okolonkwo Ebere Theresa, on Sunday, September 14, after Aviation Security Officers of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, in collaboration with the NDLEA operatives, discovered 1.40kg of methamphetamine concealed in her butt pad underwear as she attempted to board a Qatar Airways flight to Doha.
“She admitted to trading in used clothing and running a POS business in Enugu before being recruited into drug trafficking,” the agency stated.
At the NAHCO export shed of Lagos airport on Monday, September 15, the NDLEA intercepted a consignment of food items containing 40 wraps of methamphetamine weighing 2.30kg bound for Hong Kong via Turkish Airlines. A 59-year-old suspect, Umelo Ifeanyi Venatus, who presented the shipment, was also arrested.
“On Thursday, September 18, operatives at a courier company in Lagos intercepted another consignment packaged for Europe. Seven phone chargers destined for New Zealand were found to contain 257 grams of cocaine.
Outside Lagos, the NDLEA carried out major raids. In Adamawa, 233,800 pills of tramadol were recovered in three separate operations.
Nearly 196,000 pills were abandoned in a Toyota Sienna in Mayo Belwa, while a suspect, Rita Zira, was arrested in Jambutu, Yola, with 27,900 pills hidden in her bedroom. Another suspect, Halilu Abubakar, 22, was caught at Namtari checkpoint with 10,300 pills,” the statement read.
In Zamfara State, operatives supported by the Community Protection Guards intercepted 109 bags of skunk weighing 1,099.4kg in a Mitsubishi Canter truck along Gummi–Daki Takwas Road. The 40-year-old driver, Hammed Danladi Aliyu, was taken into custody.
Other seizures included 14,000 capsules of tramadol recovered from two suspects on the Damaturu–Potiskum road in Yobe, and three sacks of skunk weighing 25.5kg recovered from Anas Hamisu, 28, in Taraba.
In Edo State, the NDLEA destroyed two cannabis farms spanning over four hectares in Atororo forest, Owan West LGA, with an estimated yield of 11,330kg.
Eleven bags of processed skunk weighing 148kg were also seized. Three suspects, Mathew Onoja, 56; Moses Thomas Male, 18; and Friday Uchenjin, 38, were arrested.
The NDLEA noted that its sensitisation campaign under the War Against Drug Abuse initiative continued nationwide, with outreach programmes in schools, religious centres and workplaces across Sokoto, Katsina, Jigawa, Benue and Kano states, among others.
The Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers in Lagos, Adamawa, Zamfara, Edo, Taraba and Yobe states for their successful operations, describing the seizures as a significant milestone in dismantling drug cartels. The statement said.
“These arrests and seizures represent a significant milestone in our determined effort to dismantle drug trafficking organisations operating in Nigeria and around the world, prioritising those bent on targeting our productive youth population with illicit substances until they’re no longer able to inflict harm on our communities or misrepresent our country’s image in the global space,” Marwa said.
He urged the NDLEA personnel nationwide to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control through enforcement and advocacy.
