Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have 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 intercepted at the departure hall of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, on Thursday, September 25, 2026, while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Portugal through Addis Ababa.
According to a statement shard on the NDLEA’s Facebook page on Sunday, the suspect, who had his wedding ring on his finger was placed under excretion observation after officers detected that he had cocaine concealed in his gut.
He subsequently egested a total of 72 wraps of the Class A illicit drug.
The suspect reportedly told NDLEA operatives that he previously operated a car decoration business at the Trade Fair Complex in the Ojo area of Lagos before relocating to Portugal in May 2023.
He said he recently returned to Nigeria and got married on September 13, 2026, adding that he became involved in the alleged drug trafficking in an attempt to offset expenses incurred during his wedding.
The arrest was among a series of operations in which the NDLEA intercepted large quantities of illicit drugs and arrested suspected traffickers across the country.
In a separate operation at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Tuesday, September 22, uncovered what the agency described as one of its biggest opioid seizures of the year.
The seizure followed a joint examination of three monitored consignments imported from India and Bangladesh through Qatar Airways, RwandAir and Ethiopian Airlines.
The consignments contained 2,550,000 pills of Tramaking 225mg, Tramaking 250mg and Royal Tapentadol 250mg, with a combined gross weight of 1,640.55kg.
In Bauchi, NDLEA operatives arrested 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 the false bottom of a truck marked MUB757 YH.
In Edo State, two cannabis farms with an estimated combined yield of 1,360.23kg were destroyed at Eko Camp, Ilushi, with the support of soldiers on Wednesday, September 23.
Also in Lagos, two women, Odumabo Kehinde, 36, and Obiekwe Chioma, 40, were arrested on Saturday, September 26, when NDLEA operatives raided Anifowoshe Street in Mushin and recovered 3.4kg of skunk.
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In another separate operation at Ebute-Ero motor park, a 58-year-old man, Ugwu Johnson, was intercepted with 5.920kg of skunk, 2,400 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 8,400 tablets of nitrazepam and 40,000 pills of tramadol.
Two Togolese nationals, Yinusa Abdulsamad, 35, and Fatai Baba, 33, were also arrested along the Iganna-Ilero Road in Iganna, Oyo State, with 305.6kg of skunk concealed in two pickup vans.
The NDLEA said the suspects were allegedly involved in a cross-border trafficking operation moving Ghanaian-sourced cannabis into Nigeria through the Oyo axis.
At the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, five suspects, Kingsley John, 40; John Chibuike Okeke, 44; Lamidi Ismaila, 40; Babatunde Samuel, 42; and Afeesu Idowu, 47, were arrested with 420 cartons of nitrous oxide, popularly known as laughing gas, weighing 1,688.4kg.
Two vehicles allegedly used to convey the consignment from the border into Lagos were also seized.
The NDLEA said its commands and formations across the country also continued with War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation programmes in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities during the week.
The agency said the sensitisation activities covered locations including 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.
Commending the officers and men involved in the operations, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), urged personnel across the country to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control.
The suspects and recovered substances are expected to remain subject to further investigation and prosecution in accordance with the law.
