According to NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, Ofoma Sunday, 46, was apprehended last Tuesday at Terminal 2 of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos upon arrival from Laos, Brazil, via an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
A body scan confirmed he had ingested illicit drugs. Ofoma confessed to traveling to Brazil on September 3rd to courier the drugs for a reward of $2,500 upon successful delivery.
A follow-up operation led to the arrest of Nweke Chuckwudi, 55, at Eliata Hotel in Amuwo Odofin, Lagos. Nweke was allegedly designated to oversee the excretion of the drugs at the hotel.
Ofoma ultimately excreted 111 wraps of heroin weighing 1.452 kilogrammes in eight excretions.
Similarly, Ukachukwu Ikechukwu was arrested at MMIA last Friday during the inward clearance of Ethiopian Airlines passengers from Brazil via Addis Ababa.
A body scan revealed he had inserted illicit drugs into his anus. Under observation, he expelled five large wraps of cocaine weighing 145 grammes.
Ikechukwu confessed to purchasing nine wraps of cocaine in Brazil and inserting them into his anus. He claimed to have removed two wraps in Addis Ababa due to severe pain and flushed them down the toilet.
He allegedly expelled another two wraps on the flight to Nigeria, leaving him with five upon arrival. Ikechukwu, who claimed to have been deported from the US in 2022 after an immigration offence, stated he returned to Brazil in 2025 and currently works there with a residence permit.
The NDLEA also reported a string of other successful operations:
Lagos Airport: Businesswoman Okolonkwo Ebere was arrested at MMIA’s Terminal 2 while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to Doha with 1.4 kilogrammes of methamphetamine concealed in her butt pad underwear.
Lagos Export Shed: A consignment of food items concealing 40 wraps of methamphetamine (2.3 kilogrammes) destined for Hong Kong was intercepted at the NAHCO export shed. 59-year-old Umelo Ifeanyi was arrested.
Lagos Courier Company: Seven phone chargers containing 257 grammes of cocaine, bound for New Zealand, were seized at a courier company.
Adamawa: 233,800 pills of tramadol were recovered in three raids, leading to two arrests.
Zamfara: 1,099.4 kilogrammes of skunk were seized from Hammed Aliyu, 40, who was transporting the consignment in a truck.
Yobe: Babangida Usman and Ismail Ibrahim were arrested with 14,000 capsules of tramadol.
Taraba: Anas Hamisu, 28, was arrested with three sacks of skunk weighing 25.525 kilogrammes.
Edo: Two cannabis farms totalling 4.532025 hectares were destroyed, with an estimated yield of 11,330.0625 kilogrammes. Three suspects, Mathew Onoja, Moses Thomas Male, and Friday Uchenjin, were arrested.
In addition to these operations, the NDLEA continues its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization activities across the country.
Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the officers and men involved in the successful operations, stating, “These arrests and seizures represent a significant milestone in our determined effort to dismantle drug trafficking organisations operating in Nigeria and around the world, prioritising those bent on targeting our productive youth population with illicit substances until they’re no longer able to inflict harm on our communities or misrepresent our country’s image in the global space.”
He urged continued vigilance and a balanced approach to drug control efforts across the country.
