NDLEA Arrests India-Bound Brothers with Cocaine at Lagos Airport

OPERATIVES of a Special Operations Unit of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested two brothers—John Abugu, 43, and Kenneth Abugu, 31—at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, with 5 kilograms of cocaine concealed in the walls of their suitcases while attempting to board a flight to India.

The brothers were apprehended at the Lagos airport on Thursday, 3rd April 2025, following proactive action based on credible intelligence.

They claimed they were travelling to India for medical treatment, but a thorough search of their luggage by NDLEA officers revealed whitish powdery substances, later confirmed to be cocaine, hidden in the walls of their bags.

In a related development, NDLEA officers of the MMIA Strategic Command on the same day, Thursday 3rd April, intercepted a 20-year-old Ghanaian–British national, Parker Darren Hazekia Osei, with 36 parcels of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis weighing 19.40 kilograms, packed in a large travel bag. The suspect, who claims to be a Computer Science student at East London University, UK, was arrested during inward clearance of passengers on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Bangkok, Thailand, at the E-arrival hall of the airport.

In his statement, the suspect claimed he resides with his parents in the UK but had travelled to Bangkok about a week earlier, where he collected the illicit consignment for delivery in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives in Kogi State arrested a 33-year-old woman, Ngozi Ogili, while transporting 3 kilograms of methamphetamine from Lagos to Abuja. She was apprehended on a commercial bus along the Okene–Lokoja highway on Monday, 31st March 2025. A follow-up operation at her delivery location in the Apo Mechanic area of Abuja led to the seizure of quantities of Loud and Colorado, both synthetic strains of cannabis.

In Abia State, NDLEA officers on Saturday, 5th April, arrested a 75-year-old man, Nna Nnanna Felix, with 1.6 kilograms of skunk, a variant of cannabis, during a raid at Umunteke Asa, Ukwa West LGA. Another suspect, David Chinemerem, 21, was arrested with 2,050 ampoules of pentazocine at 7 Nnajiego Lane, Umuode Road, Aba, on Tuesday, 1st April.

No fewer than 381 bottles of codeine syrup and 108 tablets of tramadol were seized from a suspect, Abdullahi Adamu, along the Potiskum–Damaturu road, Yobe State, by NDLEA operatives on Saturday, 5th April. Additionally, raids at Osogbo motor park, Onitsha, and a residence in Oba, Idemili LGA of Anambra State, led to the arrest of Obinna Sunday and the seizure of 195,000 tramadol pills. Also arrested during the Osogbo raid was Ugochukwu Ojalanonye, found in possession of 4.2 kilograms of codeine syrup and 5.4 kilograms of pentazocine.

In the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), NDLEA operatives on Thursday, 3rd April, arrested 51-year-old Sunday Ayogu with 25 kilograms of skunk and 90.4 grams of methamphetamine during a raid at Wuse Market, Abuja. On Friday, 4th April, two women—Faith Effiong Etim, 64, and Victoria Asuquo Etim, 40—were arrested when NDLEA officers, supported by Nigerian Army personnel, raided cannabis farms in Esuk-Odot community, Odukpani LGA, Cross River State, where over 250,000 kilograms of the psychoactive plant were destroyed on more than 100 hectares of farmland.

Simultaneously, NDLEA Commands and formations across the country intensified their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaigns in schools, places of worship, workplaces, and communities. These included lectures and outreach to students and staff of Cave City Secondary School, Ogidi, Anambra State; residents of Dan’iyau village, Batagarawa LGA, Katsina; and members of the Nigerian Association of Patent and Proprietary Medicine Dealers in Sangere and Kwanan Waya, Yola, Adamawa State, among others.

Commending the officers and men of the MMIA, SOU, Yobe, Abia, Kogi, Anambra, Cross River, and FCT Commands for their arrests and seizures, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), said their operational successes—especially their balanced approach to drug supply and demand reduction—are highly commendable and appreciated.