NDLEA arrests a 25-year-old man allegedly carrying 72 cocaine wraps to Portugal and seizes 2.55 million tramadol and tapentadol pills in Lagos
NDLEA Arrests Man With 72 Cocaine Wraps, Seizes 2.55m Pills
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a 25-year-old businessman, Lovely Chukwulobelu, for allegedly attempting to smuggle 72 wraps of cocaine into Portugal.
Chukwulobelu was arrested on September 25 at the departure hall of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, while allegedly preparing to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Portugal through Addis Ababa.
According to a statement issued by the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the suspect had allegedly ingested the cocaine before his arrest.
He was subsequently placed under excretion observation, during which he expelled 72 wraps of the illicit drug.
Babafemi said Chukwulobelu, who resides in Portugal, had recently returned to Nigeria and got married on September 13.
The suspect, who previously operated a car decoration business at the Trade Fair Complex in Ojo, Lagos, reportedly relocated to Portugal in May 2023.
He allegedly told NDLEA operatives that he ventured into drug trafficking to offset expenses incurred during his wedding.
In a separate operation in Lagos, NDLEA operatives seized 2.55 million pills of tramadol and tapentadol at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport.
Babafemi said the seizure followed 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, with a combined gross weight of 1,640.55kg.
In Bauchi State, the agency arrested two suspects, Umar Hamidu, 35, and Abdulkarim Salihu, 45, along the Maiduguri bypass with 300 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 262.5kg.
The NDLEA said the drugs were concealed in a false bottom of a truck with registration number MUB757 YH.
In Edo State, NDLEA operatives, supported by soldiers, destroyed two cannabis farms at Eko Camp, Ilushi, on September 23. The farms were estimated to have a combined yield of 1,360.23kg of cannabis.
The agency also recorded arrests in Lagos and Oyo states as part of its ongoing operations against illicit drug trafficking.
In Lagos, two women, Odumabo Kehinde, 36, and Obiekwe Chioma, 40, were arrested during a raid on Anifowoshe Street, Mushin, on September 26. Operatives recovered 3.4kg of skunk from the suspects.
On the same day, NDLEA officers arrested 58-year-old Ugwu Johnson at Ebute-Ero motor park.
Recovered from him were 5.92kg 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 in Iganna on September 26.
The suspects were allegedly transporting 305.6kg of skunk concealed in two pick-up vans in what the NDLEA described as part of a cross-border trafficking operation involving cannabis sourced from Ghana.
The series of arrests and seizures came as NDLEA operatives intensified operations across several states and at major entry and exit points, targeting the movement and distribution of illicit drugs.
