Daud Olatunji
A 25-year-old businessman and newlywed, Lovely Chukwulobelu, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, for allegedly attempting to traffic cocaine to Portugal.
The suspect was allegedly caught with 72 wraps of cocaine concealed in his stomach while preparing to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Portugal through Addis Ababa.
The NDLEA said the suspect, who resides in Portugal, was intercepted at the airport’s departure hall on Thursday, September 25, 2026, while wearing his wedding ring.
According to the agency, Chukwulobelu had returned to Nigeria recently for his wedding on September 13 and allegedly told investigators that he resorted to drug trafficking to offset expenses incurred during the ceremony.
The development was disclosed in a statement issued on Sunday by the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi.
Babafemi said the suspect was subsequently placed under excretion observation, during which he allegedly expelled all 72 wraps of cocaine.
The statement quoted the suspect as saying that he previously operated a car decoration business at the Trade Fair Complex in the Ojo area of Lagos before relocating to Portugal in May 2023.
The NDLEA spokesperson said the arrest was part of a series of operations conducted by the agency across several states, resulting in the seizure of large quantities of illicit drugs and pharmaceutical products.
At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, NDLEA operatives recovered 2,550,000 pills of Tramakings 225mg and 250mg and Royal Tapentadol 250mg.
The agency said the pharmaceutical drugs weighed 1,640.55kg and were discovered during the joint examination of three monitored consignments imported from India and Bangladesh through Qatar Airways, RwandAir and Ethiopian Airlines.
In Bauchi State, two suspects, Umar Hamidu, 35, and Abdulkarim Salihu, 45, were allegedly arrested with 300 compressed blocks of cannabis sativa, commonly known as skunk, weighing 262.5kg.
The NDLEA said the cannabis was concealed in a false bottom of a truck marked MUB757 YH along the Maiduguri bypass.
Similarly, two cannabis farms with an estimated combined yield of 1,360.23kg were destroyed at Eko Camp, Ilushi, Edo State.
The operation, according to the agency, was carried out by NDLEA officers with the support of soldiers.
In Lagos, two women, Odumabo Kehinde, 36, and Obiekwe Chioma, 40, were arrested at Anifowoshe Street, Mushin, with 3.4kg of skunk, the agency said.
Another suspect, identified as Ugwu Johnson, 58, was allegedly 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, the NDLEA said two Togolese nationals, Yinusa Abdulsamad, 35, and Fatai Baba, 33, were arrested along the Iganna-Ilero Road with 305.6kg of skunk allegedly concealed in two pickup vans.
According to Babafemi, the suspects were allegedly involved in a cross-border trafficking network moving Ghanaian-sourced cannabis into Nigeria through the Oyo axis.
At the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos State, five suspects were also arrested with 420 cartons of nitrous oxide, popularly known as laughing gas, weighing 1,688.4kg.
