The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 25-year-old newlywed businessman, Lovely Chukwulobelu, for allegedly ingesting 72 wraps of cocaine in an attempt to traffic the illicit drug to Portugal.
Chukwulobelu was arrested by NDLEA operatives at the departure hall of Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, on Thursday, September 25, 2026, while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Portugal via Addis Ababa.
The suspect, who had his wedding ring on his finger, was subsequently placed under excretion observation and egested all 72 wraps of the Class A drug.
According to the NDLEA, in a statement by its Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the suspect claimed that he was into 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, before allegedly resorting to drug trafficking to offset expenses incurred during his wedding.
In another major seizure, NDLEA operatives at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, on Tuesday, September 22, intercepted 2,550,000 pills of Tramaking 225mg, Tramaking 250mg and Royal Tapentadol 250mg.
The opioids, weighing a combined 1,640.55kg, were discovered during the joint examination of three monitored consignments imported from India and Bangladesh through Qatar Airways, RwandAir and Ethiopian Airlines.
The agency described the seizure as one of the year’s biggest opioid hauls.
In Bauchi State, NDLEA operatives arrested two suspects, Umar Hamidu, 35, and Abdulkarim Salihu, 45, along the Maiduguri bypass with 300 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 262.5kg.
The cannabis was allegedly concealed in a 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, September 23. The farms had a combined estimated yield of 1,360.23kg of cannabis.
In Lagos, two women, Odumabo Kehinde, 36, and Obiekwe Chioma, 40, were arrested on Saturday, September 26, during a raid on Anifowoshe Street, Mushin, where 3.4kg of skunk was recovered.
On the same day, NDLEA operatives intercepted a 58-year-old man, Ugwu Johnson, at Ebute-Ero motor park 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, on September 26 with 305.6kg of skunk.
The suspects were allegedly using two pickup vans to move Ghanaian-sourced cannabis into Nigeria through the Oyo axis as part of a cross-border trafficking operation.
At the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, five suspects were also arrested with 420 cartons of nitrous oxide, popularly known as laughing gas, weighing 1,688.4kg.
The suspects are Kingsley John, 40; John Chibuike Okeke, 44; Lamidi Ismaila, 40; Babatunde Samuel, 42; and Afeesu Idowu, 47. Two vehicles allegedly used to convey the consignment from the border into Lagos were also seized.
Meanwhile, NDLEA Commands and formations across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities.
The activities included sensitisation lectures for students and staff of 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 Delta Ports Command also paid a WADA advocacy visit to His Royal Majesty, Ogiame Atuwatshe III, the Olu of Warri, Delta State.
The NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), commended officers and men of the MMIA, AIIA, Lagos, Oyo, Edo, Seme and Bauchi Commands for the operations.
Marwa urged them and their colleagues across the country to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control efforts.
