NDLEA Arrests Portugal-Bound Groom with 72 Cocaine Wraps in Enugu, Seizes Millions of Opioid Pills in Lagos
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 25-year-old newlywed businessman, Lovely Chukwulobelu, at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, for attempting to traffic 72 ingested wraps of cocaine to Portugal.
The suspect was intercepted at the airport’s departure hall on Thursday, 25th September 2026, while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Portugal via Addis Ababa. Officers noticed the wedding ring on his finger before a screening revealed he had a gut full of illicit drugs. Placed under excretion observation, Chukwulobelu egested a total of 72 wraps of Class A cocaine.
The suspect, who operated a car decoration business at the Trade Fair Complex in Ojo, Lagos, before relocating to Portugal in May 2023, confessed he returned to Nigeria to get married on 13th September 2026. He claimed he resorted to drug trafficking to offset heavy wedding expenses.
Massive 2.55 Million Opioid Pills Seized at Lagos Airport
In another major breakthrough, NDLEA operatives at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Ikeja, Lagos, uncovered one of the largest opioid hauls of the year.
During a joint examination of three monitored consignments on Tuesday, 22nd September 2026, agents seized 2,550,000 pills of Tramaking 225 mg, Tramaking 250 mg, and Royal Tapentadol 250 mg.
The illicit shipment, weighing a combined 1,640.55 kilograms, was imported from India and Bangladesh via Qatar Airways, RwandAir, and Ethiopian Airlines.
Crackdowns in Bauchi, Edo, Lagos, Oyo, and Seme Border
The NDLEA sustained its nationwide onslaught against drug syndicates with several high-profile interceptions across multiple states. In Bauchi State, operatives arrested Umar Hamidu (35) and Abdulkarim Salihu (45) along the Maiduguri bypass.
They recovered 300 compressed blocks of cannabis strain (also known as skunk) weighing 262.5 kg hidden in the false bottom of a truck.
In Edo State, NDLEA officers, backed by military personnel, destroyed two massive cannabis farms at Eko Camp, Ilushi, on Wednesday, 23rd September. The destroyed farms had an estimated yield of 1,360.23 kg. While Lagos State operatives on Saturday, 26th September, raided Anifowoshe Street in Mushin, leading to the arrest of two women, Odumabo Kehinde (36) and Obiekwe Chioma (40), with 3.4 kg of skunk, 2,400 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 8,400 tablets of nitrazepam, and 40,000 pills of tramadol.
The NDLEA has also cracked down on cross-border drug trafficking syndicates in Oyo State and arrested two Togolese nationals, Yinusa Abdulsamad (35) and Fatai Baba (33), along the Iganna-Ilero road on Saturday.
They were alleged to have smuggled 305.6 kg of Ghanaian-sourced cannabis into Nigeria using two pickup vans.
Similar arrests were made at the Seme border with suspects identified as Kingsley John (40), John Chibuike Okeke (44), Lamidi Ismaila (40), Babatunde Samuel (42), and Afeesu Idowu (47). They were arrested while attempting to smuggle 420 cartons of nitrous oxide (laughing gas) weighing 1,688.4 kg into Lagos.
