…Wants to offset bills
CITIZENS COMPASS— The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a newlywed, Lovely Chukwulobelu, at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu.
The 25-year-old was arrested after allegedly ingesting 72 wraps of cocaine in an attempt to traffic it to Portugal.
NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.
According to Babafemi, Chukwulobelu was intercepted at the airport’s departure hall on Thursday, September 25, 2026, while preparing to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Portugal through Addis Ababa.
He said the suspect was placed under excretion observation after officers detected that he had ingested cocaine. He subsequently expelled all 72 wraps of the Class A illicit drug.
The suspect reportedly told NDLEA operatives that he previously operated a car decoration business at the Trade Fair Complex in the Ojo area of Lagos before relocating to Portugal in May 2023.
According to Babafemi, Chukwulobelu returned to Nigeria recently and got married on September 13. He allegedly said he became involved in drug trafficking in an attempt to offset expenses incurred during his wedding.
Meanwhile, Babafemi said NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, intercepted one of the agency’s largest opioid consignments of the year during a joint examination of three monitored consignments.
The operation, conducted on Tuesday, September 22, resulted in the seizure of 2,550,000 pills of Tramaking 225mg, Tramaking 250mg and Royal Tapentadol 250mg, weighing a combined 1,640.55 kilogrammes.
Babafemi said the consignments were imported from India and Bangladesh through Qatar Airways, RwandAir and Ethiopian Airlines.
Two suspects, Umar Hamidu, 35, and Abdulkarim Salihu, 45, along the Maiduguri bypass with 300 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 262.5kg.
Babafemi said the cannabis was concealed in a false compartment of a truck marked MUB757 YH.
In Edo State, NDLEA operatives, supported by soldiers, destroyed two cannabis farms at Eko Camp, Ilushi, on Wednesday, September 23. The farms had a combined estimated yield of 1,360.23kg of cannabis.
Babafemi also disclosed that two women, Odumabo Kehinde, 36, and Obiekwe Chioma, 40, were arrested during a raid on Anifowoshe Street, Mushin, Lagos, on Saturday, September 26, with 3.4kg of skunk.
Babafemi said two Togolese nationals, Yinusa Abdulsamad, 35, and Fatai Baba, 33, were also arrested along the Iganna-Ilero road in Iganna, Oyo State, with 305.6kg of skunk.
The suspects allegedly concealed the cannabis in two pickup vans used to move Ghanaian-sourced cannabis into Nigeria through the Oyo axis.
At the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, NDLEA operatives arrested five suspects and seized 420 cartons of nitrous oxide, popularly known as laughing gas, weighing 1,688.4kg.
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 transport the consignment from the border into Lagos were also recovered.
Babafemi quoted the NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), as commending officers and men of the MMIA, AIIA, Lagos, Oyo, Edo, Seme and Bauchi Commands for their operations.
Marwa urged NDLEA personnel nationwide to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control, combining enforcement with prevention, public education and community engagement.
