The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 25-year-old newlywed businessman, Lovely Chukwulobelu, for attempting to traffic 72 wraps of cocaine to Portugal….
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 25-year-old newlywed businessman, Lovely Chukwulobelu, for attempting to traffic 72 wraps of cocaine to Portugal.
Chukwulobelu was arrested at the departure hall of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, on Thursday, September 25, 2026, while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Portugal via Addis Ababa.
The NDLEA said the suspect had ingested the cocaine and was subsequently placed under excretion observation, during which he expelled all 72 wraps of the Class A illicit drug.
The agency said Chukwulobelu, who lives in Portugal, returned to Nigeria recently and got married on September 13.
According to the suspect, he previously operated a car decoration business at the Trade Fair Complex, Ojo, Lagos, before relocating to Portugal in May 2023.
He reportedly told investigators that he ventured into drug trafficking to offset expenses incurred during his wedding.
The arrest was part of a series of operations in which the NDLEA also intercepted more than 2.5 million opioid pills at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
At the airport’s import shed on Tuesday, September 22, NDLEA operatives, during a joint examination of three monitored consignments, seized 2,550,000 pills of Tramaking 225mg, Tramaking 250mg and Royal Tapentadol 250mg.
The consignments, weighing 1,640.55 kilogrammes, were imported from India and Bangladesh through Qatar Airways, RwandAir and Ethiopian Airlines.
In Bauchi, NDLEA operatives arrested two suspects, Umar Hamidu, 35, and Abdulkarim Salihu, 45, along the Maiduguri bypass with 300 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 262.5kg.
The cannabis was concealed in a false compartment of a truck marked MUB757 YH.
In Edo State, two cannabis farms with an estimated combined yield of 1,360.23kg were destroyed at Eko Camp, Ilushi, by NDLEA officers supported by soldiers on Wednesday, September 23.
In Lagos, two women, Odumabo Kehinde, 36, and Obiekwe Chioma, 40, were arrested during a raid on Anifowoshe Street, Mushin, on Saturday, September 26. NDLEA operatives recovered 3.4kg of skunk from them.
Also in Lagos on the same day, NDLEA officers intercepted 58-year-old Ugwu Johnson 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, two Togolese nationals, Yinusa Abdulsamad, 35, and Fatai Baba, 33, were arrested along the Iganna-Ilero road, Iganna, with 305.6kg of skunk.
The NDLEA said the cannabis was concealed in two pick-up vans allegedly being used in a cross-border trafficking operation to move Ghanaian-sourced cannabis into Nigeria through the Oyo axis.
At the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, five suspects were arrested 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 convey the consignment from the border into Lagos were also recovered.
Meanwhile, NDLEA commands and formations across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities.
The activities included sensitisation lectures at Community High School, Saki, Oyo State; Auchi College, Auchi, Edo State; Alkali Modibbo Islamic Centre, Dukku, Gombe State; and Junior Arabic Secondary School, Kahu, Kibiya Local Government Area of Kano State.
The Delta Ports Command also paid a WADA advocacy visit to the Olu of Warri, His Royal Majesty Ogiame Atuwatshe III.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers of the MMIA, AIIA, Lagos, Oyo, Edo, Seme and Bauchi Commands for the operations.
Marwa urged them and other officers across the country to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control.
The statement was signed by NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday, September 27, 2026.
