A 25-year-old businessman, Lovely Chukwulobelu, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency for allegedly ingesting 72 wraps of cocaine in an attempt to smuggle the illicit drug to Portugal.
Chukwulobelu, who resides in Portugal, was arrested at the departure hall of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, on Thursday, September 25, 2026, while preparing to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Portugal via Addis Ababa.
The NDLEA said the suspect was placed under excretion observation after the drug was detected in his stomach, leading to the recovery of all 72 wraps.
According to the agency, the suspect was arrested with his wedding ring still on his finger, having returned to Nigeria recently to get married.
The NDLEA said Chukwulobelu told investigators that he had previously operated a car decoration business at the Trade Fair Complex, Ojo, Lagos, before relocating to Portugal in May 2023.
“He said he returned to Nigeria recently to get married on September 13, 2026, and resorted to the criminal trade to offset expenses incurred during his wedding,” the agency stated.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, have intercepted 2,550,000 pills of pharmaceutical opioids in one of the agency’s biggest seizures of the year.
The seizure, made on Tuesday, September 22, followed the joint examination of three monitored consignments imported from India and Bangladesh through Qatar Airways, RwandAir and Ethiopian Airlines.
The agency said the consignments contained Tramaking 225mg, Tramaking 250mg and Royal Tapentadol 250mg, with a combined gross weight of 1,640.55kg.
In Bauchi State, operatives arrested two men, Umar Hamidu, 35, and Abdulkarim Salihu, 45, along the Maiduguri bypass with 300 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 262.5kg.
The cannabis was reportedly concealed in the false bottom of a truck marked MUB757 YH.
In Edo State, two cannabis farms with an estimated combined yield of 1,360.23kg were destroyed at Eko Camp, Ilushi, during an operation conducted with the support of soldiers on Wednesday, September 23.
Also in Lagos, NDLEA operatives arrested two women, Odumabo Kehinde, 36, and Obiekwe Chioma, 40, during a raid on Anifowoshe Street, Mushin, recovering 3.4kg of skunk.
Another suspect, 58-year-old Ugwu Johnson, was intercepted at Ebute-Ero Motor Park with 5.920kg of skunk, 2,400 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 8,400 tablets of nitrazepam and 40,000 pills of tramadol.
In Oyo State, two Togolese nationals, Yinusa Abdulsamad, 35, and Fatai Baba, 33, were arrested along the Iganna-Ilero Road with 305.6kg of skunk concealed in two pickup vans.
The NDLEA said the suspects were allegedly involved in a cross-border trafficking operation involving cannabis sourced from Ghana and moved into Nigeria through the Oyo axis.
At the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, five suspects were also arrested with 420 cartons of nitrous oxide, commonly called 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.
Reacting to the seizures and arrests, the NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended the officers involved in the operations.
Marwa urged them and other personnel across the country to sustain the agency’s drug control efforts.
He said the officers should “continue with the ongoing balanced approach to the drug control efforts of the Agency.”
The statement was signed by the NDLEA Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, in Abuja on Sunday.
