Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a former international footballer, Segun George Hunkarin, and four others in a series of coordinated operations at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos and the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA) Enugu over attempts to smuggle a combined total of 22.6kg of cocaine and methamphetamine into Nigeria.
Hunkarin was arrested at the airport car park while allegedly waiting to receive a consignment of cocaine from his associate, Ntoruka Emmanuel Chinedu, a Lagos-based businessman. Chinedu, who frequently travels between Nigeria and Turkey, was apprehended upon arrival at MMIA on Tuesday, 24th June. A search of his hand luggage revealed 37 wraps of cocaine weighing 800 grams, concealed in his bag.
Investigations showed that Chinedu collected the consignment during a layover in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and was en route from Turkey via an Ethiopian Airlines flight. Upon interrogation, Hunkarin admitted to previously trafficking drugs from Brazil to Ethiopia during his football career but denied ever importing drugs into Nigeria.
Drug Arrests at AIIA, Enugu
At the Enugu airport, NDLEA operatives on Friday, 27th June, intercepted 38-year-old Ezenwaka Chibuzor Emmanuel, a bar attendant based in Maputo, Mozambique, who was arriving from Johannesburg, South Africa via Addis Ababa. A search of his luggage revealed 17 parcels of methamphetamine weighing 17.5kg and three parcels of cocaine weighing 3.05kg concealed in bedsheets.
Another passenger on the same flight, 54-year-old Azu Follygan Kpodar, was also arrested. A liquid soap container found in his luggage tested positive for liquid cocaine weighing 1.25kg. Kpodar, a toy seller based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, claimed he purchased the drug while shopping for his upcoming wedding in Nigeria.
More Arrests Across States and Borders
In a separate operation, NDLEA arrested Europe-based businessman Amen Okoro Godstime at MMIA on Friday, 27th June, for attempting to export 5,000 pills of Tramadol 225mg to Spain, disguised as malaria drugs. Okoro confessed that the drugs were to be forwarded to Italy from France for retail.
At the Seme border, 26-year-old Beninese national Vode Jean-Luck was caught trying to smuggle 69 balls of skunk cannabis weighing 29.5kg from Benin Republic into Nigeria.
In Kwara State, notorious drug dealer Mary Bolanle Oladele, popularly known as “Iya Nafi,” was apprehended on Wednesday, 25th June, in Omu-Aran, Irepodun LGA. Various quantities of skunk, tramadol, and flunitrazepam were recovered from her hideout.
A 72-year-old grandmother, Mrs. Christy Ejaro, was arrested in Warri, Delta State, on Tuesday, 24th June. She was found in possession of sachets of skunk cannabis ready for retail distribution.
NDLEA’s Ongoing Advocacy and Commendations
Meanwhile, the NDLEA’s War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign continued with sensitization lectures in schools across Katsina, Oyo, Abia, Enugu, Bayelsa, and Ekiti States.
The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the agency’s officers in MMIA, AIIA, Delta, Kwara, and Seme commands for their efforts in the latest operations. He also lauded all NDLEA formations nationwide for maintaining a balance between drug supply suppression and drug demand reduction.
