Precious Nwonu, Enugu
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have arrested a 25-year-old businessman at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, for allegedly attempting to traffic cocaine to Portugal.
The suspect, identified as Lovely Chukwulobelu, was intercepted on Thursday, September 25, 2026, at the airport’s departure hall while preparing to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Portugal through Addis Ababa, according to the NDLEA.
The agency said the suspect had allegedly ingested 72 wraps of cocaine and was placed under observation following his arrest.
He subsequently excreted all 72 wraps, the NDLEA said.
According to the agency, the suspect told investigators that he previously operated a car decoration business at the Trade Fair Complex in Ojo, Lagos, before relocating to Portugal in May 2023.
He reportedly returned to Nigeria recently and got married on September 13, 2026.
The NDLEA said the suspect claimed he turned to the alleged drug trafficking in an attempt to recover expenses incurred during his wedding.
The Enugu arrest was among a series of drug interdiction operations carried out by the agency across several states.
At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, NDLEA operatives recovered 2,550,000 opioid pills during the examination of three monitored consignments at the airport’s import shed.
The agency said the consignments, which arrived from India and Bangladesh through Qatar Airways, RwandAir and Ethiopian Airlines, had a combined gross weight of 1,640.55 kilogrammes.
The seized drugs included Tramaking 225mg, Tramaking 250mg and Royal Tapentadol 250mg.
In Bauchi State, two men aged 35 and 45 were arrested along the Maiduguri bypass after NDLEA officers allegedly found 300 compressed blocks of cannabis weighing 262.5kg concealed in a false compartment of a truck.
In Edo State, the agency, with support from soldiers, destroyed two cannabis farms at Eko Camp, Ilushi. The farms were estimated to have a combined yield of 1,360.23kg.
Two women, aged 36 and 40, were also arrested during a raid on Anifowoshe Street, Mushin, Lagos, where 3.4kg of cannabis was recovered, according to the NDLEA.
At Ebute-Ero motor park in Lagos, officers arrested a 58-year-old man and allegedly recovered 5.92kg of cannabis, 2,400 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 8,400 tablets of nitrazepam and 40,000 pills of tramadol.
In Oyo State, two Togolese nationals, aged 35 and 33, were arrested along the Iganna-Ilero road in Iganna.
The NDLEA said 305.6kg of cannabis was recovered from two pickup vans allegedly transporting the substance, which it said had been sourced from Ghana and brought into Nigeria through the Oyo axis.
At the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, five suspects were arrested after officers intercepted 420 cartons of nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas.
The agency put the weight of the consignment at 1,688.4kg and said the substance was being transported from the border into Lagos in two vehicles.
The operations came as the NDLEA continued its nationwide War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation campaign, with officers conducting awareness programmes in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities.
The agency said the activities were held in several states, including Oyo, Edo, Gombe and Kano, while the Delta Ports Command also carried out a WADA advocacy visit to the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatshe III.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers involved in the operations and urged personnel across the country to sustain the agency’s enforcement and drug-prevention efforts.
The NDLEA has also recently announced the dismantling of a suspected Nigerian-Mexican drug network operating a clandestine methamphetamine laboratory in Eziama community, Obeagu, Awgu Local Government Area of Enugu State. Two suspects were arrested and subsequently arraigned before the Federal High Court in Enugu.