A 25-year-old Europe-bound groom, Lovely Chukwulobelu, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, with 72 wraps of cocaine. Chukwulobelu was intercepted in the departure hall of the airport on Thursday, September 25, 2026, while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Portugal via Addis Ababa. According to the NDLEA, officers detected cocaine in his gut and placed him under excretion observation, during which he egested the 72 wraps of the Class A illicit drug.
Chukwulobelu, who wore his wedding ring when arrested, claimed he worked in the car decoration business at the Trade Fair Complex, Ojo area of Lagos, before relocating to Portugal in May 2023. He reportedly returned to Nigeria recently and got married on September 13, 2026, but resorted to drug trafficking to offset expenses incurred during his wedding. The NDLEA stated that the suspect's actions led to his arrest, foiling a major attempt at drug trafficking.
In another significant operation, NDLEA operatives seized 2,550,000 pills of Tramaking 225mg, Tramaking 250mg, and Royal Tapentadol 250mg, weighing 1,640.55 kilograms, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos. The opioids were discovered during a joint examination of three monitored consignments imported from India and Bangladesh through Qatar Airways, RwandAir, and Ethiopian Airlines. The agency valued the seized items at over N3 billion.
The NDLEA also made significant arrests and seizures in various locations across Nigeria. In Bauchi, operatives arrested two suspects, Umar Hamidu, 35, and Abdulkarim Salihu, 45, along the Maiduguri bypass, with 300 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 262.5 kg. The cannabis was concealed in the false bottom of a truck marked MUB757 YH. Additionally, in Edo State, NDLEA officers destroyed two cannabis farms at Eko Camp, Ilushi, with an estimated combined yield of 1,360.23kg of cannabis.
Further operations led to arrests and seizures in Lagos, Oyo, and at the Seme border in Badagry. In Lagos, two women, Odumabo Kehinde, 36, and Obiekwe Chioma, 40, were arrested during an NDLEA raid on Anifowoshe Street, Mushin, which recovered 3.4kg of skunk. At Ebute-Ero Motor Park, operatives intercepted 58-year-old Ugwu Johnson, who 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 State, two Togolese nationals, Yinusa Abdulsamad, 35, and Fatai Baba, 33, were arrested along the Iganna-Ilero road, Iganna, with 305.6kg of skunk concealed in two pickup vans. The NDLEA stated that the suspects were allegedly involved in a cross-border trafficking racket moving Ghanaian-sourced cannabis into Nigeria via the Oyo axis. At the Seme border in Badagry, five suspects were arrested with 420 cartons of nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, weighing 1,688.4kg.
The NDLEA Commands and formations across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools, places of worship, workplaces, and communities. The activities included sensitisation lectures at Community High School, Saki, Oyo State; Auchi College, Auchi, Edo State; Alkali Modibbo Islamic Centre, Dukku, Gombe State; and Junior Arabic Secondary School, Kahu, Kibiya Local Government Area of Kano State. The NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd.), commended officers and men for the operations and urged them to sustain the agency's balanced approach to drug control.
Key points
- NDLEA arrests groom with 72 wraps of cocaine at Enugu airport
- NDLEA intercepts over N3billion worth of opioids at Lagos airport
- NDLEA conducts War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities across Nigeria
