The latest NDLEA cocaine arrest involved a 25-year-old newlywed businessman, Lovely Chukwulobelu, who was intercepted at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, allegedly attempting to traffic 72 wraps of cocaine to Portugal.
According to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Chukwulobelu was arrested at the airport’s departure hall on Thursday, September 25, 2026, while preparing to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Portugal through Addis Ababa.
The suspect, who had ingested the cocaine, was placed under excretion observation by NDLEA officers and subsequently expelled 72 wraps of the illicit drug.
NDLEA Cocaine Arrest Follows Wedding in Nigeria
The agency said the suspect claimed he was a businessman involved in car decoration at the Trade Fair Complex in the Ojo area of Lagos before relocating to Portugal in May 2023.
Chukwulobelu reportedly returned to Nigeria recently and got married on September 13, 2026.
According to the account attributed to the suspect, he turned to drug trafficking to offset expenses incurred during his wedding.
The arrest occurred while he was attempting to return to Portugal, where he resides.
In a separate operation at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, NDLEA officers uncovered one of the year’s major opioid seizures.
The agency said officers jointly examined three monitored consignments on Tuesday, September 22, and recovered 2,550,000 pills of Tramaking 225mg, Tramaking 250mg and Royal Tapentadol 250mg.
The consignments had a combined gross weight of 1,640.55 kilograms and were imported from India and Bangladesh through Qatar Airways, RwandAir and Ethiopian Airlines.
In Bauchi State, NDLEA operatives arrested two suspects, Umar Hamidu, 35, and Abdulkarim Salihu, 45, along the Maiduguri bypass.
The suspects were allegedly found with 300 compressed blocks of skunk, a strain of cannabis weighing 262.5kg.
The cannabis was reportedly concealed in a false bottom of a truck marked MUB757 YH.
Meanwhile, NDLEA officers, supported by soldiers, destroyed two cannabis farms at Eko Camp, Ilushi, Edo State.
The farms had a combined estimated yield of 1,360.23kg, according to the agency.
In Lagos, NDLEA operatives arrested two women, Odumabo Kehinde, 36, and Obiekwe Chioma, 40, during a raid on Anifowoshe Street in Mushin on Saturday, September 26.
The operation led to the recovery of 3.4kg of skunk, according to the agency.
In a separate operation the same day, NDLEA officers intercepted 58-year-old Ugwu Johnson at Ebute-Ero motor park.
The agency said the suspect was found with several illicit consignments, including 20kg of skunk, 2,400 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 8,400 tablets of nitrazepam. 40,000 pills of tramadol
NDLEA officers also arrested two Togolese nationals, Yinusa Abdulsamad, 35, and Fatai Baba, 33, along the Iganna-Ilero road in Iganna, Oyo State.
The agency said the suspects were arrested with 305.6kg of skunk concealed in two pickup vans.
According to NDLEA, the vehicles were allegedly being used in a cross-border trafficking operation involving Ghanaian-sourced cannabis brought into Nigeria through the Oyo axis.
At the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, five suspects were arrested in connection with the movement of 420 cartons of nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas.
The substance weighed 1,688.4kg, according to the agency.
The suspects were identified 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.
Beyond arrests and seizures, NDLEA commands and formations across Nigeria continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities during the week.
The agency said its officers carried out awareness programmes at schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities.
Among the institutions and communities reached were 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 His Royal Majesty Ogiame Atuwatshe III, the Olu of Warri, in Delta State.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), commended officers and personnel of the MMIA, AIIA, Lagos, Oyo, Edo, Seme and Bauchi Commands for the operations.
Marwa urged officers and their colleagues across the country to sustain what he described as the agency’s ongoing balanced approach to drug-control efforts.
The operations form part of NDLEA’s continuing enforcement, interdiction and drug-abuse prevention activities across Nigeria.
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