The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted multiple consignments of illicit drugs, arresting traffickers including two Brazil returnees and a businesswoman, in a series of nationwide operations that also uncovered large seizures of opioids, cannabis, and methamphetamine.
According to a statement by NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi on Sunday, September 21, 2025, operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, arrested two passengers returning from Brazil with hard drugs concealed in their bodies.
One of the suspects, 46-year-old Ofoma Sunday, was apprehended on September 16 after a body scan revealed he had ingested 111 wraps of heroin weighing 1.45kg. A follow-up operation led to the arrest of 55-year-old Nweke Jude, who was allegedly assigned to receive the drugs in Lagos.
Similarly, another returnee, Ukachukwu Frank Ikechukwu, was arrested on September 19 during inward clearance of Ethiopian Airlines passengers. He later excreted five wraps of cocaine weighing 145 grams, confessing he had initially inserted nine wraps in Brazil but lost some during transit due to severe anal pain.
In another operation, a 38-year-old businesswoman, Okolonkwo Ebere Theresa, was arrested on September 14 while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to Doha. She was caught with 1.40kg of methamphetamine concealed in butt pad underwear.
NDLEA operatives also intercepted drug shipments hidden in food items, phone chargers, and cargo destined for Hong Kong, New Zealand, and Europe. These included 2.3kg of meth concealed in food packages at the NAHCO export shed, and 257 grams of cocaine found inside phone chargers.
Beyond Lagos, operatives seized large quantities of narcotics across several states. In Adamawa, 233,800 pills of tramadol were recovered in separate raids, while in Zamfara, 1,099.4kg of cannabis skunk was intercepted from a truck along Gummi-Daki Takwas road. Cannabis farms covering over four hectares with an estimated yield of 11,330kg were also destroyed in Edo State, with three suspects arrested.
Similar seizures were made in Yobe, Taraba, and other states, with thousands of opioid pills and bags of cannabis recovered.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the operatives for the successful operations, describing the arrests and seizures as a “significant milestone” in dismantling drug trafficking networks. He urged officers to sustain their efforts under the agency’s War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) initiative.