Felix Mbata, Lagos state
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 25-year-old newlywed businessman, Lovely Chukwulobelu, at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, for attempting to traffic 72 wraps of cocaine which he ingested to Portugal where he resides.
The groom was intercepted at the departure hall of the Enugu airport on Thursday 25th September 2026, with cocaine in his gut and wedding ring on his finger, while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Portugal via Addis Ababa. He was subsequently placed under excretion observation during which he egested a total of 72 wraps of the Class A drug.
The suspect, who claimed he was into car decoration business at the Trade Fair Complex, Ojo, Lagos before relocating to Portugal in May 2023, said he returned to Nigeria recently to get married on 13th September 2026. He said he resorted to the criminal trade to offset expenses incurred during his wedding.
In a major bust at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Tuesday 22nd September 2026 uncovered one of the yearโs biggest opioid hauls, valued at over N3 billion, during a joint examination of three monitored consignments. The seizure comprised 2,550,000 pills of Tramaking 225mg, Tramaking 250mg and Royal Tapentadol 250mg, with a combined gross weight of 1,640.55 kilograms. The consignments were imported from India and Bangladesh via Qatar Airways, RwandAir and Ethiopian Airlines.
Elsewhere, in Bauchi, operatives arrested Umar Hamidu, 35, and Abdulkarim Salihu, 45, along the Maiduguri bypass with 300 compressed blocks of skunk, a strain of cannabis weighing 262.5kg, concealed in the false bottom of a truck marked MUB757 YH.
In Edo State, NDLEA officers supported by soldiers destroyed two cannabis farms at Eko Camp, Ilushi, on Wednesday 23rd September, with a combined estimated yield of 1,360.23kg.
In Lagos, two female suspects, Odumabo Kehinde, 36, and Obiekwe Chioma, 40, were arrested on Saturday 26th September when operatives raided Anifowoshe Street in Mushin where 3.4kg of skunk was recovered from them. In another operation same day, officers intercepted a 58-year-old man, Ugwu Johnson, at Ebute-Ero motor park with 5.920kg skunk, 2,400 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 8,400 tablets of nitrazepam and 40,000 pills of tramadol.
Two Togolese nationals, Yinusa Abdulsamad, 35, and Fatai Baba, 33, were nabbed on Saturday 26th September at Iganna-Ilero road, Iganna, Oyo State with 305.6kg of skunk concealed in two pick-up vans used for cross-border trafficking of Ghanaian-sourced cannabis into Nigeria through the Oyo axis.
At the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, five suspects were arrested with 420 cartons of nitrous oxide, popularly called laughing gas, weighing 1,688.4kg, along with two vehicles used in conveying the exhibit. They include Kingsley John, 40; John Chibuike Okeke, 44; Lamidi Ismaila, 40; Babatunde Samuel, 42; and Afeesu Idowu, 47.
Meanwhile, Commands and formations of the Agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization activities in the past week to schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities. These include lectures at Community High School, Saki, Oyo State; Auchi College, Auchi, Edo; Alkali Modibbo Islamic Centre, Dukku, Gombe; and Junior Arabic Secondary School, Kahu, Kibiya LGA, Kano, while the Delta Ports Command paid a WADA advocacy visit to His Royal Majesty, Ogiame Atuwatshe III, the Olu of Warri, Delta State, among others.
Commending the officers and men of MMIA, AIIA, Lagos, Oyo, Edo, Seme and Bauchi Commands for the successful operations, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), enjoined them and their colleagues across the country to sustain the ongoing balanced approach to the Agencyโs drug control efforts.