Muhammed Abubakar, Reporting
A 62-year-old Lagos-based businessman, Nwabueze Nicholas Izueke, has been arrested at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano, by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) while attempting to travel to China with 95 jumbo-sized wraps of cocaine concealed in his stomach.
The suspect was arrested on Saturday, 31 January 2026, during the outward clearance of passengers travelling to China via Addis Ababa on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET940.
A body scan confirmed the presence of illicit drugs, after which he was placed under excretion observation.
During the observation period, Izueke, who claimed to be engaged in clothing and auto spare parts trading in Lagos, expelled 95 pellets of cocaine, weighing a total of 1.589 kilograms, in seven excretions.
In his statement, he confessed that he ventured into drug trafficking to raise funds to complete a country home he is building in Iwollo, Enugu State.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives recovered 627.7 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis, from a makeshift warehouse at Fums Plaza, Kubwa, Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
In a related operation, attempts by Ebube Okeke, Evans Ugwu, Mohammed Eze Arinze, and Friday Michael to smuggle methamphetamine concealed in MP3 speakers from Enugu to Abuja and Kaduna were foiled on Friday, 6 February, when NDLEA officers intercepted the consignments aboard a commercial bus in Abuja.
A follow-up operation in Zuba, FCT, led to the arrest of Ebube Okeke, identified as the owner of one of the parcels containing 173 grams of methamphetamine.
The remaining suspects—Evans Ugwu, Mohammed Eze Arinze and Friday Michael—were arrested on Saturday, 7 February, in Kaduna while attempting to collect a second consignment weighing 28 grams.
In another development, NDLEA operatives at the Dan-Anacha patrol point, Gassol Local Government Area of Taraba State, intercepted Yusuf Abubakar, 32, on Friday, 6 February, while conveying packs of Hollandia yoghurt from Lagos to Mubi, Adamawa State.
A search of the yoghurt packs revealed wraps of methamphetamine weighing 1.8 kilograms concealed within some of the cartons.
In Oyo State, NDLEA officers on Thursday, 5 February, arrested a Beninoise national, Shuaibu Abdulrahman, 29, at Ibudo-Igboho village, Sooro Kishi, where 149.6 kilograms of skunk concealed in rice shafts were recovered.
In a separate operation in Ibadan, a suspect, Adeniyi Adeola, also known as Prince, was arrested at Foko, Agbeni Market, on Wednesday, 4 February.
Items recovered from his truck, marked BDJ 767 YC, included 10,820 ampoules of pentazocine injection and 117,820 capsules of tramadol.
Also in Ibadan, a drug kingpin, Jimoh Nurudeen, 40, who operates a facility producing Colorado, a synthetic cannabis, was arrested on Saturday, 7 February, at Badeku area of the city, alongside his accomplice, Ogundipe Yusuf, 27.
Recovered from them were eight litres of precursor chemicals, 14 grams of skunk, various production paraphernalia, ₦7,408,400 in cash, and two vehicles—a Mercedes-Benz SUV (ABC 832 AZ) and a Toyota Highlander (RBC 243 BS).
In Kwara State, NDLEA operatives on Saturday, 7 February, intercepted a fuel tanker conveying petrol from Lagos to Maiduguri, Borno State.
A search of the tanker led to the recovery of 395,400 capsules of tramadol concealed within the vehicle.
The driver was taken into custody.
Similarly, a couple—Izuchukwu Azubuike, 37, and Ifunaya Mmadueke, 32—were arrested at Umuaka, Njaba, Imo State, with 203 kilograms of skunk on Saturday, 7 February.
In Ondo State, operatives on Friday, 6 February, recovered 420 kilograms of skunk hidden in a bush at Ikun Akoko.
At the Yekeme waterfront, Badagry, Lagos State, operatives of the Marine Command of NDLEA seized 31 wraps of cocaine concealed in a handbag from Eze Nodebechi Austin, who arrived from Côte d’Ivoire in a passenger boat on Friday, 6 February.
In Lagos, Adekunle Oluwatosin Olajide was arrested on Wednesday, 4 February, at Lagos Island, with 3.6 kilograms of Canadian Loud and Colorado recovered from him.
In Enugu, a drug dealer, Emeka Okeke, 37, was apprehended at his hideout on Akuruka Street, Asata, Ezeagu, where various quantities of skunk, methamphetamine, cocaine, and molly, as well as ₦457,700, were seized.
Across the country, NDLEA commands also sustained their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities during the week.
These included enlightenment lectures at Agulu Awka Community Secondary School, Anambra; Okeodo Community High School, Igboora, Oyo; and Wisdom Foundation Secondary School, Ado, Lagos.
The Niger State Command also paid a WADA advocacy visit to the Emir of Suleja, Alhaji Mohammed Auwal Ibrahim, among others.
Commending the officers of the MAKIA, Marine, FCT, Taraba, Oyo, Kwara, Imo, Ondo and Lagos Commands for their professionalism, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd.), urged them to sustain the momentum in both drug supply and demand reduction efforts nationwide.
