The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 25-year-old businessman, Lovely Chukwulobelu, at Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, for allegedly attempting to traffic cocaine to Portugal. Chukwulobelu was intercepted on September 25, 2026, while preparing to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Portugal through Addis Ababa. He had ingested 72 wraps of cocaine, which he later expelled during excretion observation.
According to the NDLEA, Chukwulobelu, who was still wearing his wedding ring, allegedly told investigators that financial pressure from his September 13 wedding influenced his decision to venture into drug trafficking. The suspect previously operated a car decoration business at the Trade Fair Complex in Ojo, Lagos, before relocating to Portugal in May 2023. He recently returned to Nigeria and got married.
The NDLEA's latest operations resulted in the arrest of several suspects and the seizure of substantial quantities of cocaine, cannabis, opioids, and other controlled substances across Nigeria. In Lagos, NDLEA operatives seized 2,550,000 pills of opioids during a joint examination of three monitored consignments at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport.
The opioid pills, with a combined gross weight of 1,640.55kg, were imported from India and Bangladesh through Qatar Airways, RwandAir, and Ethiopian Airlines. In Bauchi State, NDLEA officers arrested two suspects, Umar Hamidu and Abdulkarim Salihu, along the Maiduguri bypass, with 300 compressed blocks of skunk, a strain of cannabis weighing 262.5kg.
In Edo State, NDLEA officers, supported by soldiers, destroyed two cannabis farms at Eko Camp, Ilushi, with an estimated combined yield of 1,360.23kg. The agency also raided drug hotspots in Lagos, arresting two women, Odumabo Kehinde and Obiekwe Chioma, and recovering 3.4kg of skunk.
At the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, five suspects were arrested with 420 cartons of nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, weighing 1,688.4kg. Two vehicles allegedly used to transport the consignment from the border into Lagos were seized. The NDLEA sustained its War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation campaigns in schools, communities, worship centres, and workplaces nationwide.
The NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended personnel involved in the nationwide operations and urged officers to sustain the agency's balanced approach to drug control, combining enforcement with prevention.
Key points
- A 25-year-old Nigerian businessman was arrested for ingesting 72 wraps of cocaine to traffic to Portugal.
- The NDLEA seized substantial quantities of cocaine, cannabis, opioids, and other controlled substances across Nigeria.
- The agency sustained its War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation campaigns in schools, communities, worship centres, and workplaces nationwide.
