On Wednesday, 28th October 2026, operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) intercepted two Europe-based Nigerian men, Aliocus Godian Odife and Sam Blackborn, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja. The duo were arrested during the outward clearance of Air France flight AF 832 from Abuja to Paris. According to NDLEA, both men had ingested a total of 200 wraps of cocaine weighing 3.460 kilograms.
Odife, who claims to live in France where he works in a factory, had arrived in Nigeria for a short holiday on 21st October. He was arrested by NDLEA operatives on his return flight after a body scan confirmed the presence of foreign objects in his stomach. Under interview, he admitted to having ingested 110 pellets of cocaine. He was placed under observation, during which he excreted all 110 wraps, which tested positive for cocaine with a total weight of 1.901 kilograms.
On the same flight, his co-traveller, Sam Blackborn, was also nabbed by NDLEA officers at the departure hall of the Abuja airport. His body scan returned positive for ingestion, while he confessed to having swallowed 90 pellets of cocaine. Under observation, he excreted all 90 wraps, which tested positive for the class A drug and weighed a total of 1.559 kilograms.
In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives in Lagos intercepted a white Volkswagen LT 28 bus along Kudirat Abiola Way, Ikeja, on Sunday, 25th October, where 537 kilograms of skunk, a strong strain of cannabis, were recovered. The same day, another team of officers intercepted a brown J5 bus along the Gbagada–Oshodi expressway, with 439 kilograms of the same substance seized.
In Oyo State, NDLEA operatives conducted a follow-up operation at Idere road, Igboora, on Thursday, 29th October, where two suspects, Oguntona Nasiru, 46, and Soji Balogun, 47, were arrested while loading 554 kilograms of skunk into a Volvo truck for onward movement into town. The operation targeted a notorious drug dealer known as ‘Omo Oba’, who escaped arrest on 25th October when officers seized 309.5 kilograms of the strong cannabis strain.
NDLEA operatives also made significant seizures in Kano, Ondo, Edo, and Sokoto states. In Kano, they recovered 247,500 tablets of diazepam weighing 57.7 kilograms and 100,000 tablets of Exol-5 weighing 38.7 kilograms. In Ondo State, four suspects were arrested, and 16 bags of processed cannabis weighing 180 kilograms were recovered from cannabis farms in Ijare forest.
The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the officers and men involved in the arrests and seizures, noting that the interception of the two cocaine couriers at Abuja airport serves as a warning to those who attempt to traffic drugs across Nigerian borders. He charged officers to sustain their efforts against drug cartels and continue their drug demand reduction efforts, including WADA sensitisation activities in schools and communities.
Key points
- The NDLEA arrested two Nigerian men attempting to travel to Paris with 200 wraps of cocaine hidden in their stomachs at Abuja's Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.
