Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arrested a 25-year-old newlywed businessman, Lovely Chukwulobelu, at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, for attempting to traffic 72 wraps of cocaine he had swallowed. The suspect was intercepted at the departure hall on Thursday, September 25, 2026, while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Lisbon via Addis Ababa.
Chukwulobelu, who ran a car decoration business at the Trade Fair Complex in Ojo, Lagos, before relocating to Portugal in May 2023, told operatives that he returned to Nigeria to marry on September 13, 2026, and turned to drug trafficking to offset wedding expenses. He was placed under excretion observation and egested a total of 72 wraps of the Class A substance.
In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives at the import shed of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, uncovered one of the year’s largest opioid seizures during a joint examination of three monitored consignments. The haul comprised 2,550,000 pills of Tramaking 225mg, Tramaking 250mg, and Royal Tapentadol 250mg, with a combined gross weight of 1,640.55kg, imported from India and Bangladesh via Qatar Airways, RwandAir, and Ethiopian Airlines.
NDLEA operatives also made significant seizures in other parts of the country. In Bauchi, Umar Hamidu, 35, and Abdulkarim Salihu, 45, were arrested along the Maiduguri bypass with 300 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 262.5kg, concealed in the false bottom of a truck. In Edo State, NDLEA officers backed by soldiers destroyed two cannabis farms with a combined estimated yield of 1,360.23kg at Eko Camp, Ilushi.
Further seizures were made in Lagos, where two women, Odumabo Kehinde, 36, and Obiekwe Chioma, 40, were arrested during a raid on Anifowoshe Street, Mushin, with 3.4kg of skunk. A 58-year-old man, Ugwu Johnson, was also intercepted at Ebute-Ero motor park with 5.92kg of skunk, 2,400 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 8,400 tablets of nitrazepam, and 40,000 tramadol pills.
NDLEA operatives also arrested two Togolese nationals, Yinusa Abdulsamad, 35, and Fatai Baba, 33, on the Iganna-Ilero road in Oyo State with 305.6kg of skunk concealed in two pickup vans. At the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, five suspects were arrested with 420 cartons of nitrous oxide (“laughing gas”) weighing 1,688.4kg, along with two vehicles used to convey the exhibits into Lagos.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa (rtd), commended officers for the operations and urged continued commitment to the agency’s balanced approach to drug control. The agency also continued War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces, and communities nationwide.
Key points
- A 25-year-old groom was arrested at Enugu airport with 72 wraps of cocaine.
- NDLEA operatives made significant seizures of opioids and cannabis in Lagos and other parts of the country.
- The agency continues to carry out War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities nationwide.
