A newlywed Nigerian businessman heading back to Portugal has been arrested after he ingested 72 wraps of cocaine and attempted to smuggle the drug through the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu State.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said 25-year-old Lovely Chukwulobelu was intercepted by its operatives at the airport’s departure hall on Thursday, September 25, 2026, while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Portugal through Addis Ababa.
According to the agency, Chukwulobelu, who had a wedding ring on his finger, was placed under excretion observation after the cocaine was detected in his stomach.
He subsequently excreted all 72 wraps of the Class A illicit drug.
The suspect told NDLEA officials that he was previously involved in car decoration business at the Trade Fair Complex in the Ojo area of Lagos before relocating to Portugal in May 2023.
He reportedly returned to Nigeria recently and got married on September 13.
The suspect allegedly said he ventured into drug trafficking to offset expenses incurred during his wedding.
The development was contained in a statement issued on Sunday by Femi Babafemi, NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy.
The agency also announced the seizure of 2.55 million opioid pills weighing 1,640.55 kilogrammes at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
The seizure, described by the agency as one of its biggest opioid interceptions of the year, was made on Tuesday, September 22, during a joint examination of three monitored consignments at the airport’s import shed.
The consignments contained Tramaking 225mg, Tramaking 250mg and Royal Tapentadol 250mg imported from India and Bangladesh through Qatar Airways, RwandAir and Ethiopian Airlines.
In Bauchi State, NDLEA operatives arrested two suspects, Umar Hamidu, 35, and Abdulkarim Salihu, 45, with 300 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 262.5kg.
The drugs were allegedly concealed in a false compartment of a truck marked MUB757 YH along the Maiduguri bypass.
In Edo State, NDLEA officers, supported by soldiers, destroyed two cannabis farms at Eko Camp, Ilushi, with an estimated combined yield of 1,360.23kg.
The agency also reported several arrests and drug seizures across Lagos, Oyo and other states.
In Lagos, two women, Odumabo Kehinde, 36, and Obiekwe Chioma, 40, were arrested during a raid on Anifowoshe Street, Mushin, where 3.4kg of skunk was recovered.
At Ebute-Ero motor park, NDLEA operatives arrested 58-year-old Ugwu Johnson 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. The agency said the suspects were allegedly involved in a cross-border trafficking operation transporting Ghanaian-sourced cannabis into Nigeria through the Oyo axis.
At the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, NDLEA officers arrested five suspects with 420 cartons of nitrous oxide, popularly known as 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.
Two vehicles allegedly used to transport the consignment from the border into Lagos were also seized.
The NDLEA said its commands across the country also continued with its War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation campaigns in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities.
Commenting on the operations, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers involved in the operations and urged them to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control.
