The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested two Brazil returnees and a businesswoman in Lagos, as well as intercepted several consignments of illicit substances across Nigeria, in what it described as a “significant milestone” in the fight against drug trafficking.
This was disclosed in a statement by the Director, Media & Advocacy NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, shared on the agency’s Facebook page on Sunday.
The two suspects, identified as Ofoma Sunday and Ukachukwu Frank Ikechukwu, excreted a combined 116 wraps of heroin and cocaine after days in observatory custody at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
Ofoma, 46, was arrested on September 16 upon arrival from Brazil via Addis Ababa on an Ethiopian Airlines flight. A body scan confirmed he had ingested narcotics. He later expelled 111 wraps of heroin weighing 1.452kg in eight excretions. A follow-up sting at a Lagos hotel led to the arrest of Nweke Jude Chuckwudi, 55, who was assigned to collect the consignment.
Similarly, Ukachukwu was arrested on September 19 while returning from Brazil. He excreted five large wraps of cocaine weighing 145g. He admitted to having purchased nine wraps in Brazil, some of which he flushed during transit after suffering severe anal pain.
In a separate operation, Okolonkwo Ebere Theresa, a businesswoman from Enugu, was apprehended on September 14 while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to Doha. She concealed 1.40kg of methamphetamine in a butt-pad underwear but was detected by aviation security officers and NDLEA operatives.
NDLEA operatives also uncovered several shipments concealed in export goods:
2.3kg of methamphetamine hidden in food items bound for Hong Kong at the NAHCO export shed, with Umelo Ifeanyi Venatus, 59, arrested.
257g of cocaine stuffed inside phone chargers headed to New Zealand.
Across Nigeria, large seizures of opioids and cannabis were also recorded:
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233,800 tramadol pills in Adamawa, including 195,600 pills abandoned in a Toyota Sienna in Yola South.
109 bags of cannabis skunk weighing 1,099.4kg seized in Zamfara from a truck en route to Gummi LGA.
14,000 capsules of tramadol seized in Yobe, while 25.5kg of skunk was intercepted in Taraba.
In Edo, two cannabis farms spanning 4.53 hectares with an estimated yield of over 11,000kg were destroyed, and three suspects arrested.
NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), praised the operatives for the “coordinated successes,” stressing the agency’s resolve to dismantle drug cartels preying on Nigerian youth.
“These arrests and seizures represent a major milestone in our determined effort to dismantle drug trafficking organizations operating within and outside Nigeria,” Marwa said, urging officers to sustain their vigilance under the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) initiative.
Meanwhile, NDLEA formations nationwide continued WADA sensitization programs in schools, religious centers, and communities, including Sokoto, Katsina, Jigawa, Benue, and Kano States.
