By Nkechi Eze
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has recorded major drug seizures and arrests across the country, including the interception of a Europe-bound newlywed who ingested 72 wraps of cocaine in an attempt to traffic the illicit drug to Portugal.
According to an official statement signed by the NDLEA Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the 25-year-old businessman, Lovely Chukwulobelu, 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.
The suspect was intercepted at the departure hall with the cocaine concealed in his gut and was subsequently placed under excretion observation, during which he egested all 72 wraps of the Class A illicit drug.
Chukwulobelu, who had reportedly returned to Nigeria from Portugal to get married on September 13, told investigators that he previously operated a car decoration business at the Trade Fair Complex, Ojo, Lagos, before relocating to Portugal in May 2023.
He allegedly said he turned to drug trafficking to offset expenses incurred during his wedding.
In Lagos, the agency also uncovered one of its biggest opioid seizures of the year at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, where operatives recovered 2.55 million pills of Tramaking 225mg, Tramaking 250mg and Royal Tapentadol 250mg.
The three monitored consignments, jointly weighing 1,640.55 kilogrammes, were examined at the airport’s import shed on September 22. The consignments were imported from India and Bangladesh through Qatar Airways, RwandAir and Ethiopian Airlines.
In Bauchi State, NDLEA operatives arrested Umar Hamidu, 35, and Abdulkarim Salihu, 45, along the Maiduguri bypass with 300 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 262.5kg. The cannabis was allegedly concealed in a false compartment of a truck marked MUB757 YH.
In Edo State, two cannabis farms at Eko Camp, Ilushi, were destroyed by NDLEA operatives supported by soldiers. The farms had a combined estimated yield of 1,360.23kg of cannabis.
Lagos recorded further arrests during raids conducted on September 26. Two women, Odumabo Kehinde, 36, and Obiekwe Chioma, 40, were arrested at Anifowoshe Street, Mushin, with 3.4kg of skunk.
At Ebute-Ero motor park, operatives intercepted 58-year-old Ugwu Johnson and recovered 5.920kg of skunk, 2,400 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 8,400 tablets of nitrazepam and 40,000 pills of tramadol.
In Oyo State, two Togolese nationals, Yinusa Abdulsamad, 35, and Fatai Baba, 33, were arrested along the Iganna-Ilero Road, Iganna, with 305.6kg of skunk allegedly concealed in two pickup vans.
The agency said the suspects were involved in a cross-border trafficking operation through which Ghanaian-sourced cannabis was moved into Nigeria through the Oyo axis.
At the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, five suspects were also arrested with 420 cartons of nitrous oxide, popularly known as laughing gas, weighing 1,688.4kg.
The suspects — Kingsley John, 40; John Chibuike Okeke, 44; Lamidi Ismaila, 40; Babatunde Samuel, 42; and Afeesu Idowu, 47 — were arrested alongside two vehicles allegedly used to convey the consignment from the border into Lagos.
Beyond its interdiction operations, the NDLEA said its commands and formations across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaigns in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities.
The campaigns included sensitisation lectures at 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 also paid a WADA advocacy visit to the Olu of Warri, His Royal Majesty Ogiame Atuwatshe III, in Delta State.
Commending the officers and men of the MMIA, AIIA, Lagos, Oyo, Edo, Seme and Bauchi Commands, the NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd.), urged them and their colleagues nationwide to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control.
