Newlywed businessman arrested with 72 wraps of cocaine at Enugu airport
A 25-year-old newlywed businessman has been arrested at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu after allegedly attempting to traffic 72 wraps of cocaine to Portugal, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has said.
The suspect was intercepted at the departure hall on Thursday, 25 September, while preparing to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Portugal via Addis Ababa.
In a statement on Sunday, the NDLEA said the man had allegedly ingested the cocaine before arriving at the airport. He was subsequently placed under observation and later passed all 72 wraps, according to the agency.
Investigators said the suspect told them he had previously operated a car decoration business at the Trade Fair Complex in Ojo, Lagos, before relocating to Portugal in May 2023.
He recently returned to Nigeria and married on 13 September. The NDLEA said he claimed he agreed to traffic the drugs in an attempt to meet expenses incurred during his wedding.
In a separate operation at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, NDLEA officers seized more than 2.5m opioid pills following the examination of three consignments on 22 September.
The agency said the 2,550,000 pills, comprising Tramaking and Royal Tapentadol, had a combined gross weight of 1,640.55kg. They were imported from India and Bangladesh aboard Qatar Airways, RwandAir and Ethiopian Airlines, according to the NDLEA.
In Bauchi, two suspects were arrested along the Maiduguri bypass after officers allegedly discovered 300 compressed blocks of cannabis weighing 262.5kg concealed in a false compartment of a truck.
NDLEA officers, supported by soldiers, also destroyed two cannabis farms at Eko Camp in Ilushi, Edo state, which the agency estimated could yield 1,360.23kg of cannabis.
In Lagos, two women were arrested during a raid in Mushin on Saturday, with officers recovering 3.4kg of cannabis. A 58-year-old man was separately arrested at Ebute-Ero motor park, where officers said they recovered cannabis, pentazocine injections, nitrazepam tablets and 40,000 tramadol pills.
Two Togolese nationals were also arrested along the Iganna-Ilero road in Oyo state after officers allegedly recovered 305.6kg of cannabis from two pick-up vehicles. The NDLEA said the drugs had been brought from Ghana through the Oyo axis.
At the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, five suspects were arrested after officers recovered 420 cartons of nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, weighing 1,688.4kg.
The NDLEA chairman, Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended officers involved in the operations and urged personnel across the country to sustain the agency’s drug-control efforts.