A 25-year-old newlywed businessman, Lovely Chukwulobelu, has been arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, for allegedly attempting to traffic 72 wraps of cocaine to Portugal.
Chukwulobelu was arrested by NDLEA operatives at the airport’s departure hall on Thursday, September 25, 2026, while allegedly attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Portugal via Addis Ababa.
The suspect, who was found to have ingested the cocaine, was placed under excretion observation, during which he excreted a total of 72 wraps of the Class A illicit drug.
The NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, adding that the suspect claimed to be a car decoration businessman who operated at the Trade Fair Complex, Ojo, Lagos, before relocating to Portugal in May 2023.
Babafemi said the suspect had returned to Nigeria recently and got married on September 13, 2026, adding that he claimed he resorted to the alleged drug trafficking to offset expenses incurred during his wedding.
In another operation at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Tuesday, September 22, intercepted 2.55 million pills of Tramaking 225mg, Tramaking 250mg and Royal Tapentadol 250mg.
Babafemi said the three monitored consignments had a combined gross weight of 1,640.55kg and were imported from India and Bangladesh through Qatar Airways, RwandAir and Ethiopian Airlines.
He said NDLEA operatives in Bauchi also arrested Umar Hamidu, 35, and Abdulkarim Salihu, 45, along the Maiduguri bypass with 300 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 262.5kg.
According to him, the cannabis was concealed in the false bottom of a truck marked MUB757 YH.
Babafemi said two cannabis farms with an estimated combined yield of 1,360.23kg were also destroyed at Eko Camp, Ilushi, Edo State, on Wednesday, September 23, by NDLEA operatives supported by soldiers.
In Lagos, he said two women, Odumabo Kehinde, 36, and Obiekwe Chioma, 40, were arrested on Saturday, September 26, when NDLEA operatives raided Anifowoshe Street, Mushin, recovering 3.4kg of skunk.
Babafemi added that NDLEA operatives at Ebute-Ero Motor Park, Lagos, also arrested 58-year-old Ugwu Johnson, recovering 5.920kg of skunk, 2,400 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 8,400 tablets of nitrazepam and 40,000 pills of tramadol.
In Oyo State, the NDLEA spokesman said two Togolese nationals, Yinusa Abdulsamad, 35, and Fatai Baba, 33, were arrested along the Iganna-Ilero Road, Iganna, on September 26 with 305.6kg of skunk.
He said the cannabis was concealed in two pick-up vans allegedly being used to transport Ghanaian-sourced cannabis into Nigeria through the Oyo axis.
At the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, Babafemi said five suspects were arrested with 420 cartons of nitrous oxide, popularly known as laughing gas, weighing 1,688.4kg.
He identified the suspects as Kingsley John, 40; John Chibuike Okeke, 44; Lamidi Ismaila, 40; Babatunde Samuel, 42; and Afeesu Idowu, 47.
Two vehicles allegedly used to convey the consignment from the border into Lagos were also recovered.
Babafemi said the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers and men of the MMIA, AIIA, Lagos, Oyo, Edo, Seme and Bauchi commands for the various operations.
He said Marwa urged NDLEA personnel across the country to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control efforts.
The NDLEA spokesman said the agency would continue its enforcement and drug prevention activities across the country.
