NDLEA operatives arrested 25‑year‑old Lovely Chukwulobelu, a newlywed groom, at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA) in Enugu on Thursday, 25 September 2026. While attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Lisbon, Portugal, the suspect was found to have 72 wraps of Class A cocaine concealed in his stomach, which were excreted during a routine observation.
Chukwulobelu, who runs a car‑decoration business in Lagos’s Trade Fair Complex, said he had relocated to Portugal in May 2023 and returned to Nigeria for his wedding on 13 September 2026. He reportedly turned to drug trafficking to cover wedding expenses.
In a separate operation at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), NDLEA seized 2,550,000 pills of tramadol‑based drugs (Tramaking 225 mg, 250 mg and Royal Tapentadol 250 mg) with a combined weight of 1,640.55 kg, imported from India and Bangladesh via Qatar Airways, RwandAir and Ethiopian Airlines.
NDLEA also arrested suspects in Bauchi State, Edo State, Lagos, Oyo State and the Seme border. The operations recovered 262.5 kg of skunk, 1,360.23 kg of cannabis from two farms, 3.4 kg of skunk in Mushin, 5.92 kg of skunk and 2,400 ampoules of pentazocine in Ebute‑Ero, 305.6 kg of skunk in Oyo, and 1,688.4 kg of nitrous oxide in Badagry.
Beyond enforcement, NDLEA’s War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign continued nationwide, with lectures delivered at schools and community centres in Oyo, Edo, Gombe, Kano and other states. The Delta Ports Command also visited the Olu of Warri to promote the initiative.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa (retd.), praised officers from MMIA, AIIA, Lagos, Oyo, Edo, Seme and Bauchi commands for their operations and urged them to maintain a balanced approach to drug control, combining enforcement with prevention and public sensitisation.
<small>Source: The Sun Nigeria — read the original story there.</small>
