Turkey-bound Businessman Excretes 120 Wraps of Cocaine at Kano Airport

OPERATIVES of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 42-year-old Angolan businessman, Mbala Dajou Abuba, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano, for attempting to traffic a large consignment of cocaine, which he had ingested, to Istanbul, Turkey.

Abuba, who is from the Zaire province in Angola, was arrested on Tuesday, 25th February 2025, at the screening point of Kano airport while trying to board Egypt Air flight MS 880 to Istanbul, Turkey, via Cairo.

After a body scan confirmed he had ingested illicit drugs, he was placed under excretion observation, during which he expelled 120 pellets of cocaine, weighing 1.829 kilograms, in seven excretions.

In his statement, the suspect claimed he was engaged in the township delivery business in Angola before turning to the illicit drug trade.

A similar attempt by an auto spare parts dealer, Okeke Ebuka Igwe, to send two parcels containing 1.10kg of cocaine concealed in vehicle propellers to Angola through the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, was thwarted by NDLEA operatives. He was arrested on Monday, 24th February, following credible intelligence.

During an interview, the suspect claimed to be a businessman dealing in auto parts at ASPANDA, Trade Fair Complex, Ojo, Lagos.

Another suspect, Ezechi Iyke Cyprian, was caught attempting to transport a large consignment of cocaine, weighing 5.40kg, to Owerri, Imo State, in his Toyota Sienna bus on Sunday, 23rd February.

According to Femi Babafemi, Director, Media & Advocacy NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja, in a Sunday statement, his arrest followed weeks of intelligence gathering and surveillance by NDLEA’s special operations unit.

At the Tincan seaport in Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Friday, 28th February, discovered 128 parcels of Canadian Loud, a strong strain of cannabis, concealed in two mattresses in the trunk of a Toyota Venza car imported from Canada.

The discovery of the 63.75kg consignment was made during a joint examination of a targeted container, marked TCNU 1945861, from Montreal, Canada, conducted by NDLEA, Customs, and other security agencies. The consignee, 44-year-old Bamidele Joseph, has been arrested and taken into custody.

In Delta State, NDLEA operatives, supported by the military, stormed a forest in the Innam-Abbi/Orogun community, Ndokwa West Local Government Area, on Thursday, 27th February, where they destroyed over 50,000kg of cannabis on a 20-hectare farmland.

Five suspects arrested during the raid include: Augustine Subaru, 45; Ukoba Malachukwu, 53; Odalonu Emmanuel, 40; Esuabom Macaulay, 35; and Itoje Safe, 54.

In another operation in Delta, NDLEA operatives on Friday, 28th February, intercepted a Mercedes Benz truck, marked AWK 791 ZJ, along the Abraka-Orogun road. A search of the truck led to the recovery of 101 bags of skunk, with a total weight of 1,111kg.

In Edo State, NDLEA officers, supported by the military, raided the Okpuje community in Owan West Local Government Area on Saturday, 1st March, where they destroyed over 100 jumbo bags of skunk stored in warehouses.

A total of 1,409.5kg of the psychoactive substance was recovered for the prosecution of arrested suspects: Oikelomen Osere Monday, 38, and Glory Iroyo, 42.

Elsewhere, a suspect, Michael Omoloki, 46, was arrested with 58.5kg of skunk at the Ibadan end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in Oyo State.

Additionally, NDLEA operatives in Kwara State, on Monday, 24th February, arrested a Beninese national, Lawali Mohammed, with 2,980 tablets of tramadol and dozens of diazepam pills at Eiyenkorin Expressway, Ilorin.

In Osun State, NDLEA operatives on patrol along the Ibadan-Gbongan Expressway on Thursday, 27th February, intercepted a consignment of 1.05kg of skunk concealed in detergent and biscuit cartons.

Sunday Ogbu, 45, was arrested in connection with the seizure. Similarly, Ayuba Mustapha, 30, was arrested at Tsafe, Zamfara State, with 24,700 pills of tramadol on Sunday, 23rd February.

In Borno State, Mustapha Shettima, 50, was arrested by NDLEA operatives with 31kg of skunk, 1,000 pills of tramadol, and a monetary exhibit of ₦720,000 along Bama Road, Maiduguri, on Wednesday, 26th February. On the same day, Adamu Idris, 40, was apprehended along Zaria Road, Kano, with 140 blocks of cannabis, weighing 73.5kg.

With the same vigour, NDLEA commands and formations across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools, places of worship, workplaces, and communities in the past week.

These included WADA enlightenment lectures at Ansarudeen Junior Secondary School, Ojuelegba, Lagos; Loretto Girls Special Science School, Adazinnukwu, Anambra State; and Tudun Murtala Special Primary School, Nasarawa Local Government Area, Kano State, among others.

While commending the officers and men of MMIA, MAKIA, SOU, Tincan, Delta, Edo, Oyo, Kano, Osun, Borno, Zamfara, and Kwara Commands for their successful arrests and seizures, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), stated that their operational successes—particularly their balanced approach to both drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction—are highly commendable.