Reported by Ariajegbe Sylvia Esezobor
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has intercepted 2.55 million tablets of opioids worth more than N3 billion at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos and arrested a 25-year-old newlywed businessman who allegedly ingested 72 wraps of cocaine before attempting to travel to Portugal, in a series of nationwide operations that also netted cannabis traffickers, laughing gas smugglers and drug farm operators across multiple states.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by the agency's Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the opioid consignments, weighing 1,640.55 kilogrammes, were seized on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, during a joint examination of three monitored consignments at the airport's import shed. The consignments contained Tramaking 225mg, Tramaking 250mg and Royal Tapentadol 250mg, and were imported from India and Bangladesh through Qatar Airways, RwandAir and Ethiopian Airlines. The seizure ranks among the agency's largest opioid interceptions of the year and underscores the persistent flow of pharmaceutical opioids into Nigeria from South Asia and the Middle East.
The arrest of the bridegroom, identified as Lovely Chukwulobelu, occurred at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu on Thursday, September 25, 2026. The 25-year-old was intercepted at the departure hall while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Portugal through Addis Ababa. Babafemi said the suspect had ingested 72 wraps of cocaine and was placed under excretion observation after the drug was detected in his system. He subsequently excreted all 72 wraps of the Class A illicit drug. The suspect was wearing his wedding ring when he was arrested, a detail that underscored the contrast between his recent celebration and his current predicament.
Investigators said Chukwulobelu told them he previously operated a car decoration business at the Trade Fair Complex in Ojo, Lagos, before relocating to Portugal in May 2023. He reportedly returned to Nigeria recently and got married on September 13, 2026. According to the agency, the suspect said he became involved in drug trafficking in an attempt to offset expenses incurred during his wedding. The NDLEA has not indicated the next stage of legal proceedings against him, and the suspect is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction.
The operations extended beyond Lagos and Enugu. In Oyo State, operatives arrested two Togolese nationals, Yinusa Abdulsamad, 35, and Fatai Baba, 33, along the Iganna-Ilero Road in Iganna, Kajola Local Government Area, on Saturday. The agency said the men were using two pickup vans to transport 305.6 kilogrammes of cannabis allegedly sourced from Ghana and moved into Nigeria through the Oyo axis as part of a cross-border trafficking operation. At the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, five other men were arrested with 420 cartons of nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, weighing 1,688.4 kilogrammes. The consignment was allegedly being transported from the border into Lagos in two vehicles. The suspects were identified as Kingsley John, 40; John Chibuike Okeke, 44; Lamidi Ismaila, 40; Babatunde Samuel, 42; and Afeesu Idowu, 47.
In Bauchi State, NDLEA officers arrested Umar Hamidu, 35, and Abdulkarim Salihu, 45, along the Maiduguri bypass. They were allegedly carrying 300 compressed blocks of skunk, a strain of cannabis weighing 262.5 kilogrammes, concealed in the false bottom of a truck marked MUB757 YH. In Edo State, operatives supported by soldiers destroyed two cannabis farms at Eko Camp, Ilushi, on Wednesday, September 23, with an estimated combined yield of 1,360.23 kilogrammes. In Lagos, two women, Odumabo Kehinde, 36, and Obiekwe Chioma, 40, were arrested during a raid on Anifowose Street in Mushin on Saturday, where 3.4 kilogrammes of skunk were recovered. In a separate operation the same day, officers intercepted 58-year-old Ugwu Johnson at Ebute-Ero motor park, recovering 5.92 kilogrammes of skunk, 2,400 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 8,400 tablets of nitrazepam and 40,000 pills of tramadol.
The agency also continued its War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation campaigns during the week, with activities held at schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities, including Community High School in Saki, Oyo State; Auchi College in Edo State; Alkali Modibbo Islamic Centre in Dukku, Gombe State; and Junior Arabic Secondary School in Kahu, Kibiya Local Government Area of Kano State. The Delta Ports Command also paid a WADA advocacy visit to His Royal Majesty Ogiame Atuwatse III, the Olu of Warri.
The NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended the officers and personnel of the MMIA, AIIA, Lagos, Oyo, Edo, Seme and Bauchi commands for the operations, urging them to sustain what he described as the agency's balanced approach to drug control. The seizures and arrests reflect the scale of the challenge facing Nigeria's drug enforcement architecture, as traffickers continue to devise increasingly sophisticated methods to move narcotics through airports, land borders and highways. The use of courier flights from India and Bangladesh, the concealment of cannabis in false vehicle compartments and the ingestion of cocaine by individual couriers illustrate the diversity of tactics employed by trafficking networks. For the NDLEA, the week's operations represent both a significant disruption of those networks and a reminder that the fight against drug trafficking remains a continuous and resource-intensive endeavour.
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