The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a newlywed businessman, Lovely Chukwulobelu, at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, for attempting to traffic 72 wraps of cocaine that he had ingested and concealed in his stomach while travelling to Portugal, where he resides.
Chukwulobelu, 25, was intercepted by NDLEA officers at the departure hall of the Enugu airport on Thursday, September 25, 2026, while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Portugal via Addis Ababa.
The suspect was found with cocaine in his stomach and his wedding ring on his finger.
The Director of Media and Advocacy at NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement made available to ThelensNG on Sunday.
According to the statement, the suspect was subsequently placed under excretion observation, during which he passed a total of 72 wraps of the Class A illicit drug.
Chukwulobelu, who claimed he was into car decoration business at the Trade Fair Complex in the Ojo area of Lagos before relocating to Portugal in May 2023, said that he recently returned to Nigeria to get married on September 13, 2026.
He stated that he resorted to the illicit drug trade to offset expenses incurred during his wedding.
Babafemi revealed that NDLEA operatives uncovered what he described as one of the year’s biggest opioid hauls during a joint examination of three monitored consignments at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, on Tuesday, September 22, 2026.
The operation led to the seizure of 2,550,000 pills of Tramaking 225mg, Tramaking 250mg, and Royal Tapentadol 250mg, with a combined gross weight of 1,640.55 kilogrammes and an estimated value of over ₦3 billion.
The consignments were imported from India and Bangladesh through Qatar Airways, RwandAir, and Ethiopian Airlines.
In Bauchi, NDLEA operatives arrested two suspects, Umar Hamidu, 35, and Abdulkarim Salihu, 45, along the Maiduguri bypass with 300 compressed blocks of skunk, a strain of cannabis, weighing 262.5kg.
The cannabis was concealed in the false bottom of a truck marked MUB757 YH.
Two cannabis farms with a combined estimated yield of 1,360.23kg at Eko Camp, Ilushi, Edo State, were also destroyed by NDLEA officers, supported by soldiers, on Wednesday, September 23.
Similarly, two female suspects, Odumabo Kehinde, 36, and Obiekwe Chioma, 40, were arrested after NDLEA operatives raided Anifowoshe Street in the Mushin area of Lagos on Saturday, September 26. A total of 3.4kg of skunk was recovered from them.
In another operation in Lagos on the same day, NDLEA officers intercepted a 58-year-old man, Ugwu Johnson, at Ebute-Ero motor park with large quantities of illicit drugs and pharmaceutical substances, including 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 by NDLEA officers along the Iganna-Ilero Road in Iganna, Oyo State, with 305.6kg of skunk concealed in two pickup vans on Saturday, September 26.
The vans were reportedly being used for a cross-border trafficking operation to transport cannabis sourced from Ghana into Nigeria through the Oyo axis.
In another operation, five suspects were arrested with 420 cartons of nitrous oxide, popularly known as laughing gas, weighing 1,688.4kg, along with two vehicles allegedly used to convey the consignment from the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos.
The suspects are Kingsley John, 40; John Chibuike Okeke, 44; Lamidi Ismaila, 40; Babatunde Samuel, 42; and Afeesu Idowu, 47.
In the same vein, the Agency’s Commands and formations across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces, communities, and other locations during the past week.
The activities included WADA sensitisation lectures for students and staff of 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.
The Delta Ports Command of the NDLEA also paid a WADA advocacy visit to His Royal Majesty, Ogiame Atuwatse III, the Olu of Warri, in Delta State, among other engagements.
Commenting on the seizures and arrests, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd.), commended officers of the MMIA, AIIA, Lagos, Oyo, Edo, Seme, and Bauchi Commands for the successful operations.
He urged them and their colleagues across the country to sustain the Agency’s ongoing balanced approach to drug-control efforts.
