Barely two weeks after the arrest of a 60-year-old businessman at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport for ingesting cocaine, operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted another drug trafficker at the Port Harcourt International Airport (PHIA).
The suspect, 44-year-old businessman Ezemokwe Chukwuebuka Christian, was apprehended on Saturday, June 7, while attempting to board Qatar Airways flight QR1434 to Tehran, Iran, via Doha. Following a positive body scan for ingestion of illicit drugs, Ezemokwe was placed under observation, during which he excreted 53 wraps of cocaine in six rounds, weighing a total of 1.172 kilograms.
According to the NDLEA, Ezemokwe confessed that he had been involved in drug trafficking for two years, operating between West Africa and Iran.
In a related development, NDLEA operatives at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, in collaboration with Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) Aviation Security, intercepted an Italy-bound passenger, Edobor Ambrose Ali, early Saturday, June 14. A scan of his luggage revealed 14,410 pills of tramadol (225mg and 200mg) concealed inside winter jackets. The suspect, who lives in Italy, said he was hired and sponsored on the trip to courier the drugs to Milan for €2,000.
Meanwhile, at the Onne Port in Rivers State, a container holding 157,800 bottles of codeine-based syrup—worth over ₦1.1 billion in street value—was intercepted during a joint examination by NDLEA, Customs, and other security agencies. The opioids were hidden behind 257 cartons of ceramic sanitary wares.
Elsewhere, NDLEA operatives raided a warehouse in Obereakai, Odukpani LGA, Cross River State, on Thursday, June 12, seizing 2,687kg of skunk. Three suspects—Friday Achibong Joseph, 47; Abraham Anthony Willy, 21; and Utibe David Okon, 24—were arrested.
In Bauchi State, a separate operation led to the arrest of Iriemi Imonikhe, 49, and Sa’idu Ladan, 30, along the Bauchi–Jos road. Officers discovered 195 blocks of skunk weighing 287kg hidden in a Toyota Camry with plate number AKL 201 GG.
Also on June 12, NDLEA’s Marine Command recovered 14 jumbo sacks of skunk weighing 560kg from a wooden boat at Oniru Beach, Lagos. Simultaneously, operatives at Muhammadu Buhari International Airport, Maiduguri (MBIAM), arrested two businessmen—30-year-old Ishaku Abdullahi and 32-year-old Buba Usman—found with quantities of ecstasy and skunk wrapped in colorful packages branded “Lychee” and “Porro Legal.”
As part of ongoing nationwide advocacy efforts under the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) initiative, the NDLEA continued its sensitization programs in schools across Nigeria, including Command Secondary School, Orba (Enugu); Divine Gift International School, Abakaliki (Ebonyi); Baptist Primary School, Ago-Are (Oyo); and St. Vincent Secondary School, Oti-Oron Okobo (Akwa Ibom).
NDLEA Chairman/CEO Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) commended officers across MMIA, PHIA, MBIAM, PHPC, Marine, Cross River, and Bauchi Commands for their diligence and commitment to both drug supply and demand reduction across the country.
