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From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
A China-based Nigerian businessman, Ibeanu Vincent Chukwudulue, and two Angolan citizens, Mbandu Martins Makiadi and Ngoma Wilson Fernando, have excreted a total of 236 wraps of cocaine following their arrest by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, and the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, respectively.
The 34-year-old Ibeanu was arrested on Wednesday, February 4, 2026, while on board Qatar Airways flight 1432 from Kano to China via Abuja/Doha.
A statement by the agency’s director of media and advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said that, acting on credible intelligence, NDLEA operatives at the Abuja airport demanded that the suspect be disembarked, after which he was taken for a body scan. The result confirmed that the suspect had ingested an illicit drug. He was thereafter placed under observation, during which he excreted a total of 52 pellets of cocaine that weighed 735.95 grams.
In his statement, Ibeanu said he was into business on Lagos Island before relocating to Guangzhou, China, in 2024.
The duo of Mbandu Martins Makiadi, 50, and Ngoma Wilson Fernando, 52, both Angolans, were intercepted on Wednesday, February 4, at the screening point of the departure hall of the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, during the outward clearance of passengers travelling to Istanbul, Turkey, via Addis Ababa on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET940.
When they were taken for a body scan, they tested positive for ingesting an illicit drug.
As a result, they were kept under observation for possible excretion. While Mbandu excreted a total of 76 wraps weighing 920 grams in seven excretions, Ngoma expelled 108 pellets that weighed 1.33 kilograms in five excretions.
During interview, the suspects, who hail from Hoji Ya Henda in Luanda, the capital of Angola, claimed they were recruited by a Luanda-based automobile spare parts dealer who promised to pay them $3,000 each upon successful delivery of the consignments in Turkey.
Meanwhile, an attempt by a convicted drug kingpin, Olashupo Michael Oladimeji, to export 1.10 kilograms of cocaine concealed in processed cassava granules, popularly known as garri, to London, United Kingdom, on a Virgin Atlantic flight, has been thwarted by NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
Olashupo is presently serving a five-year jail term at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre, Lagos, after NDLEA arrested him in 2025 in connection with a case of unlawful conspiracy to export 17.90 kilograms of cocaine and successfully prosecuted, convicted and sentenced him in charge number FHC/L/925C/2025 by a Federal High Court in Lagos.
Not ready to give up on his criminal enterprise, the convict, who is the chief executive officer of Dimeji Express Logistics, located at 20 Omilade Street, Mafoluku, Oshodi, Lagos, initiated the latest scheme from behind the prison wall to export 1.10 kilograms of cocaine using his company.
His lid was, however, uncovered on Thursday, February 12, when NDLEA officers at the export shed of the Lagos airport intercepted a consignment of a compressed block of cocaine hidden in a sack of garri, which was further packed inside a carton.
A staff member of Dimeji Express Logistics, Adedeji Yusuf Gbolahan, who presented the consignment for export, was promptly arrested. Investigations revealed that Olashupo Michael Oladimeji initiated the trafficking scheme from prison and directed Yusuf to pick the consignment at a location in Oshodi.
A similar attempt by a 44-year-old estate surveyor, Adelaja Taiwo Adetayo, to export 1.70 kilograms of skunk concealed in five jerrycans to the UK was equally frustrated by NDLEA operatives at the export shed of the Lagos airport.
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The cargo agent, Mustapha Quddus Opeyemi, who presented the consignment for export, was initially arrested, while a follow-up operation led to the arrest of Adelaja at the Ahmadiyya area of Lagos on Monday, February 9.
In Abuja, NDLEA operatives on Thursday, February 12, intercepted a waybill package sent from Enugu containing a children’s toy guitar.
A search of the guitar revealed that it was used to conceal two parcels of Canadian Loud, a strain of cannabis, weighing 59.2 grams.
A follow-up operation led to the arrest of the owner of the consignment, Henry Onuma, at Dream City Estate, Life Camp.
In Lagos, NDLEA officers on Friday, February 13, raided a four-bedroom duplex at 2 Alexandria Terrace, Ikate-Elegushi, Lekki, used for the production and storage of Colorado, a synthetic cannabis.
The raid followed the seizure of 73 cartons of nitrous oxide at Iyare Motor Park, Ajah–Epe Expressway, a consignment intended for Benin City, Edo State.
The driver of the vehicle moving the shipment, Amos Innocent, was arrested, while Victor Oyedeji was nabbed at the Lekki home, where 13.2 kilograms of freshly produced Colos were recovered in addition to precursor chemicals.
A notorious female drug dealer in Ibadan, Oyo State, Oluwayemisi Bunmi, 45, was on Wednesday, February 11, arrested at her enclave in the Hope Alakia area of the state capital.
Recovered from her were 1.189 kilograms of Colos and skunk; 320 grams of methamphetamine; a monetary exhibit of ₦2,975,000; and two cars: a navy-blue Toyota Matrix marked JJJ 629 FQ and a sky-blue Toyota Matrix with registration number LND 602 AQ.
No fewer than 105,400 pills of tramadol were recovered from a suspect, Kamilu Abdullahi, 43, when his J5 vehicle marked DTM-765XA was intercepted by NDLEA operatives at Bode Saadu area of Kwara State on Thursday, February 12.
In Edo State, five suspects – Murtala Mohammed, 37; Abdulkadir Idris Mohammed, 29; Ufoma Edafe, 40; Anthony Aghati, 46; and Emmanuel Owalu Ekele, 39 – were arrested on Saturday, February 14, when NDLEA operatives raided the Yoruba Camp, Olumoye Forest, in Ovia North East LGA, where 563.5 kilograms of skunk were recovered.
Across all commands and formations of the agency nationwide, NDLEA officers continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities, among others, in the past week.
These include WADA enlightenment lectures to students and staff of Anglican Grammar School, Ogbomoso, Oyo; Government Day Secondary School, Yola, Adamawa; Government Secondary School, Tudun Gwandara, Lafia, Nasarawa; Government Girls Technical and Commercial College, Charanchi, Katsina; and Ajumoni Senior Secondary School, Mushin, Lagos, among others.
While commending the officers and men of the MAKIA, MMIA, NAIA, Lagos, Edo, Kwara, FCT and Oyo commands for the arrests, seizures and their professionalism, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig Gen Mohamed Marwa (rtd), enjoined them and their colleagues across the country to continue the current balanced approach to their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.
