The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 30-year-old Italy-based businessman, Joseph Cyril, at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, for ingesting 98 wraps of cocaine while heading to Italy via Addis Ababa and France.
The suspect, who was nabbed at the departure hall of the airport on August 2, 2026, during the outward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET930, was subsequently placed on excretion observation, during which he excreted 98 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.510 kilograms.
A statement by the Director, Media and Advocacy of the NDLEA, Mr Femi Babafemi, on Sunday said investigations revealed that Cyril had arrived in Nigeria from Italy on July 13, 2026, and ingested the drug in a hotel in Awka, Anambra State, before proceeding to Enugu to board his flight to Europe on 2nd August.
In his statement, he claimed he had been doing business in Italy for years before agreeing to traffic the drug consignment for a fee of 3,500 Euros in order to raise money to relocate to Germany, where his family is based.
Babafemi said in the statement that operatives of the Agency thwarted attempts by some drug trafficking syndicates to export 1.2 kilograms of cocaine concealed in 25 pieces of phone chargers going to Saudi Arabia at a courier firm in Lagos.
A similar bid to send 500 grams of the same Class A drug hidden in the false bottom of a backpack to Italy was equally aborted in another logistics company by NDLEA officers on 3rd August, while a consignment of 2.3kg of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, coming from the United States was intercepted in another shipping company in Lagos on 4th August.
Meanwhile, NDLEA officers on patrol along the Akure-Ilesha expressway on 4th August intercepted a truck heading to the North with 1,633 kilograms of skunk concealed in bags of rice shafts.
According to the statement, two suspects, Buba Jamilu and Sanusi Ibrahim, transporting the consignment, were arrested, while a total of 147kg of skunk was recovered from Ita Ogbolu forest during a raid operation on 3rd August.
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In Oyo State, operatives, acting on credible intelligence, on 3rd August raided a drug warehouse in Elebure village, Orire LGA, where they recovered 731.03 kilograms and arrested a suspect, Felicia Thompson, while her partner, Thompson Vincent Nwaka, is at large.
In a similar operation in Edo State on 5th August, operatives supported by soldiers recovered 65 jumbo bags of skunk weighing 604.5kg at Ewe Luleha in Owan West LGA.
While a drug joint operator, Chibuike Charles, 31, was arrested during a raid at his Samec by powerline base in Osisioma LGA, Abia State, where 7kg of skunk was seized on 6th August, a notorious wanted drug dealer, Adome Claude Sikuru, was on 8th August nabbed at the fibre market drug jungle, Badagry, Lagos, after a three-month manhunt for him. At the time of his arrest, 88.5kg of skunk was seized from him.
A total of 73 cartons containing 442 packets of cookies and gummies infused with cannabis, weighing 309.4kg, were discovered during a joint examination of a 40ft container by NDLEA officers, Customs and other security agencies on 4th August at the Tincan port complex, Lagos. A suspect, Larry Nnaji, has already been arrested in connection with the seizure.
While commending the officers and men of DOGI, AIIA, Ondo, Oyo, Edo, Abia, Seme, and Tincan Commands for the various successful operations, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig-Gen. Mohamed Marwa (rtd), enjoined them and their colleagues across the country to continue with the ongoing balanced approach to the Agency’s drug control efforts.
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