The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 25-year-old businessman, Lovely Chukwulobelu, for allegedly attempting to traffic 72 wraps of cocaine, which he ingested, to Portugal, where he resides.
The suspect was arrested at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, on Thursday, September 25, 2026, while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Portugal via Addis Ababa.
According to a statement by the Director of Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday, the suspect was intercepted at the departure hall with cocaine concealed in his stomach and his wedding ring on his finger.
He was subsequently placed under excretion observation, during which he expelled a total of 72 wraps of cocaine.
The agency disclosed that Chukwulobelu, who claimed to be a car decoration businessman at the Trade Fair Complex, Ojo, Lagos, relocated to Portugal in May 2023.
He reportedly returned to Nigeria recently and got married on September 13, 2026.
The suspect allegedly told investigators that he ventured into drug trafficking to offset expenses incurred during his wedding.
In a related development, NDLEA operatives at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, seized 2,550,000 pills of illicit opioids weighing 1,640.55 kilogrammes.
The seizure was made on Tuesday, September 22, during a joint examination of three monitored consignments imported from India and Bangladesh through Qatar Airways, RwandAir and Ethiopian Airlines.
The seized drugs comprised Tramaking 225mg, Tramaking 250mg and Royal Tapentadol 250mg.
In Bauchi State, two suspects, Umar Hamidu, 35, and Abdulkarim Salihu, 45, were arrested along the Maiduguri bypass with 300 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 262.5 kilogrammes.
The cannabis was reportedly concealed in the false bottom of a truck with registration number MUB757 YH.
Similarly, NDLEA operatives, supported by soldiers, destroyed two cannabis farms at Eko Camp, Ilushi, Edo State, on Wednesday, September 23. The farms had a combined estimated yield of 1,360.23 kilogrammes 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 3.4 kilogrammes of skunk were recovered.
In another operation on the same day, operatives intercepted a 58-year-old man, Ugwu Johnson, at Ebute-Ero Motor Park with 5.920 kilogrammes of skunk, 2,400 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 8,400 tablets of nitrazepam and 40,000 pills of tramadol.
The agency also arrested two Togolese nationals, Yinusa Abdulsamad, 35, and Fatai Baba, 33, along the Iganna-Ilero Road in Iganna, Oyo State.
The suspects were allegedly transporting 305.6 kilogrammes of skunk concealed in two pickup vans as part of a cross-border trafficking operation involving cannabis sourced from Ghana and moved into Nigeria through the Oyo axis.
At the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos State, five suspects were arrested with 420 cartons of nitrous oxide, popularly known as laughing gas, weighing 1,688.4 kilogrammes.
Two vehicles allegedly used to convey the substance from the border into Lagos were also seized.
The suspects were identified as Kingsley John, 40; John Chibuike Okeke, 44; Lamidi Ismaila, 40; Babatunde Samuel, 42; and Afeesu Idowu, 47.
Meanwhile, the NDLEA said its commands and formations across the country sustained their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaigns in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities during the week.
The activities included sensitisation lectures at Community High School, Saki, Oyo State; Auchi College, 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 the Olu of Warri, His Royal Majesty, Ogiame Atuwatshe III, in Delta State.
Commending officers and men of the MMIA, AIIA, Lagos, Oyo, Edo, Seme and Bauchi commands for their successful operations, the NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), urged them and their colleagues nationwide to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control.
Babafemi, who signed the statement on behalf of the agency, said the commendation was part of efforts to encourage continued commitment to the fight against drug trafficking and substance abuse.
Femi Babafemi
Director, Media and Advocacy
NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja
Sunday, September 27, 2026
