Ex-Int’l Footballer, Grandma, Bar Attendant Nabbed in Drug Raids (+PHOTOS)

OPERATIVES of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested ex-international football player, Segun George Hunkarin, and his businessman partner, Ntoruka Emmanuel Chinedu, for attempting to smuggle a consignment of cocaine into Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.

Chinedu, a frequent flyer known for transporting clothes from Turkey to Nigeria and foodstuffs in return, was the first to be arrested upon his arrival at Lagos Airport on Tuesday, 24th June 2025.

A search of his carry-on bag revealed 37 wraps of cocaine weighing 800 grams, concealed within.

Investigations showed the suspect flew into Nigeria from Turkey on an Ethiopian Airlines flight, transiting through Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he received the luggage from another individual.

Further checks revealed that an accomplice, who turned out to be former professional footballer Segun Hunkarin, was waiting at the airport car park to collect the consignment. Hunkarin, who had spent years in Brazil playing for football clubs, was promptly tracked and arrested at the car park.

In his statement, Hunkarin claimed that while playing professional football in South America, he had only trafficked drugs twice from Brazil to Ethiopia but had never brought any into Nigeria.

In a related operation, NDLEA operatives arrested Europe-based businessman Amen Okoro Godstime at Lagos Airport on Friday, 27th June. He was caught attempting to traffic 5,000 pills of tramadol 225mg, disguised as malaria drugs such as Lonart, Amatem, and Aluktem, to Spain. Okoro, who operates a freight and logistics business between Europe and Nigeria, claimed that after landing in Spain, he would board a train to France where he resides and send the tramadol to Italy for resale.

At the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, NDLEA operatives on the same day intercepted a Maputo, Mozambique-based bar attendant, Ezenwaka Chibuzor Emmanuel. A search of his luggage revealed 17 cardboard-sized parcels of methamphetamine weighing 17.5kg and three parcels of cocaine weighing 3.05kg. The 38-year-old, who flew in from Johannesburg via Addis Ababa, had concealed the drugs in bedsheets packed in his luggage.

Another passenger on the same Ethiopian Airlines flight, 54-year-old Azu Follygan Kpodar, was also arrested. Upon searching his luggage, operatives discovered a plastic liquid soap container marked “YPE”, which, after forensic analysis in Enugu, tested positive for cocaine. The liquid cocaine weighed 1.25kg. Kpodar, a toy seller in Brinquedo, São Paulo, Brazil, claimed he bought the substance while shopping for his wedding in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, at the Seme border area of Badagry, Lagos, on Tuesday 24th June, a 26-year-old Beninese national, Vode Jean-Luck, was intercepted while attempting to smuggle 69 balls of skunk—a strain of cannabis—with a total weight of 29.5kg into Nigeria from the Benin Republic.

In Kwara State, notorious drug dealer Mary Bolanle Oladele, a.k.a. “Iya Nafi”, was arrested on Wednesday, 25th June, during a raid on her base in Omu-Aran, Irepodun Local Government Area. Various quantities of skunk, tramadol, and flunitrazepam were recovered.

In Delta State, 72-year-old grandmother, Mrs Christy Ejaro, was arrested on Tuesday, 24th June, at the Niger CAT area of Warri. Several sachets of skunk, packaged in retail sizes, were recovered from her.

In addition to arrests, the NDLEA’s War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities continued nationwide. Lectures were delivered to students and staff of schools across Katsina, Oyo, Abia, Enugu, Bayelsa, Ekiti, and other states.

Commending the officers and men of MMIA, AIIA, Delta, Kwara, and Seme Commands for their efforts during the week, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), also praised operatives across the country for maintaining balance between drug supply reduction and demand reduction initiatives.