The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested two Brazil returnees and a businesswoman at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, for trafficking heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine.
NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday, said 46-year-old Ofoma Sunday was intercepted on September 16 after arriving from Brazil via Addis Ababa on an Ethiopian Airlines flight. A body scan confirmed he had ingested illicit substances, and under observation, he excreted 111 wraps of heroin weighing 1.452 kilogrammes. A follow-up operation at a hotel in Amuwo Odofin led to the arrest of 55-year-old Nweke Chuckwudi, who was designated to take delivery of the drugs.
Similarly, Ukachukwu Ikechukwu was arrested on September 19 during inward clearance of another Ethiopian Airlines flight from Brazil. A body scan revealed drug concealment, and he later expelled five wraps of cocaine weighing 145 grammes. Ikechukwu confessed that he had initially inserted nine wraps but lost some during transit.
In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives, in collaboration with Aviation Security officers, arrested businesswoman Okolonkwo Ebere on September 14 while she attempted to board a Qatar Airways flight to Doha. She was found with 1.4 kilogrammes of methamphetamine concealed in her butt pad underwear.
Other nationwide seizures included 2.3 kilogrammes of methamphetamine hidden in food items destined for Hong Kong, 257 grammes of cocaine concealed in phone chargers bound for New Zealand, and large quantities of tramadol, cannabis, and skunk recovered in Adamawa, Zamfara, Yobe, Taraba, and Edo States. Two cannabis farms covering over 4.5 hectares in Edo were also destroyed.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the officers for the successful operations, stressing that the agency remains committed to dismantling drug trafficking networks and protecting Nigerian youths from the scourge of illicit drugs.
