Newlywed Businessman Arrested At Enugu Airport With 72 Cocaine Wraps

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 25-year-old businessman, Lovely Chukwulobelu, for allegedly attempting to smuggle cocaine out of Nigeria through the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu.

Chukwulobelu was arrested on September 25 at the airport’s departure hall while preparing to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Portugal via Addis Ababa.

NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, saying the suspect had allegedly ingested the cocaine and was placed under excretion observation. He subsequently expelled 72 wraps containing the illicit drug.

According to the agency, Chukwulobelu, who resides in Portugal, had returned to Nigeria recently and got married on September 13. He reportedly told investigators that he ventured into drug trafficking to offset expenses incurred during his wedding.

The NDLEA said the suspect previously operated a car decoration business at the Trade Fair Complex in Ojo, Lagos, before relocating to Portugal in May 2023.

In a separate operation at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, the agency seized 2.55 million pills of tramadol and tapentadol weighing 1,640.55kg.

Babafemi said the drugs were recovered on September 22 following the joint examination of three monitored consignments imported from India and Bangladesh through Qatar Airways, RwandAir and Ethiopian Airlines. The consignments contained Tramaking 225mg, Tramaking 250mg and Royal Tapentadol 250mg.

In Bauchi State, NDLEA operatives arrested two suspects, Umar Hamidu, 35, and Abdulkarim Salihu, 45, along the Maiduguri bypass with 300 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 262.5kg. The drugs were allegedly concealed in a false compartment of a truck marked MUB757 YH.

The agency also reported the destruction of two cannabis farms at Eko Camp, Ilushi, Edo State, on September 23. The operation, conducted with the support of soldiers, yielded an estimated 1,360.23kg of cannabis.

In Lagos, two women, Odumabo Kehinde, 36, and Obiekwe Chioma, 40, were arrested during a raid on Anifowoshe Street, Mushin, on September 26. NDLEA officials recovered 3.4kg of skunk from them.

Also in Lagos, 58-year-old Ugwu Johnson was arrested at Ebute-Ero motor park on September 26. Officers recovered 5.92kg of skunk, 2,400 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 8,400 tablets of nitrazepam and 40,000 pills of tramadol from him.

In Oyo State, two Togolese nationals, Yinusa Abdulsamad, 35, and Fatai Baba, 33, were arrested along the Iganna-Ilero road in Iganna. The NDLEA said the suspects were allegedly transporting 305.6kg of skunk in two pickup vans as part of a cross-border trafficking operation involving cannabis sourced from Ghana.

At the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, five suspects were arrested with 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 consignments from the border into Lagos were also seized.

Meanwhile, the NDLEA said it sustained its War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation campaign during the week, with activities held in schools, religious centres, workplaces and communities across the country.

The agency said its campaigns included lectures at Community High School, Saki, Oyo State; Auchi College, Edo State; Alkali Modibbo Islamic Centre, Gombe State; and Junior Arabic Secondary School, Kahu, Kano State.

The Delta Ports Command also visited the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatshe III, as part of its WADA advocacy campaign.

NDLEA Chairman, Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended officers of the agency’s commands in Lagos, Enugu, Oyo, Edo, Seme and Bauchi for the operations.

He urged officers nationwide to sustain what he described as a balanced approach to drug control.