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From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
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 heading to China with 95 jumbo-sized wraps of cocaine weighing 1.589 kilograms buried in his stomach.
Nwabueze was arrested on Saturday, January 31, 2026, at the Kano airport during the outward clearance of passengers travelling to China via Addis Ababa on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET940. When taken for a body scan, he tested positive for ingesting illicit drugs and was promptly placed under excretion observation.
While under observation, the suspect, who claims he is into clothing and auto spare parts business in Lagos, expelled a total of 95 pellets of the class A drug in seven excretions.
In his statement, he claimed he decided to engage in illicit drug trafficking to raise enough money to complete the country home he is building in his village, Iwollo, Enugu State.
While a total of 627.7 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis, were recovered from a makeshift warehouse within Fums Plaza in Kubwa, FCT, an attempt by Ebube Okeke, Evans Ugwu, Mohammed Eze Arinze, and Friday Michael to smuggle consignments of methamphetamine concealed in MP3 speakers from Enugu to Abuja and Kaduna was on Friday, February 6, foiled by NDLEA operatives in Abuja, who intercepted the consignments in a bus.
A follow-up operation in Zuba, FCT, led to the arrest of Ebube Okeke, who is the owner of one of the parcels containing 173 grams of meth, while the trio of Evans Ugwu, Mohammed Eze Arinze, and Friday Michael were nabbed on Saturday, February 7, in Kaduna when they showed up to collect the second consignment weighing 28 grams of meth.
In a similar development, NDLEA operatives at Dan-Anacha patrol point, Gassol Local Government Area of Taraba State, on Friday, February 6, intercepted a suspect, Yusuf Abubakar, 32, conveying packs of Hollandia yoghurt from Lagos and heading to Mubi, Adamawa State.
Acting on intelligence, the NDLEA officers searched the yoghurt packs, some of which were used to conceal wraps of a white powdery substance that tested positive for methamphetamine, weighing 1.8 kilograms.
In Oyo State, NDLEA officers on Thursday, 5 February, arrested a Beninoise, Shuaibu Abdulrahman, 29, at Ibudo-Igboho village, Sooro Kishi, where they recovered 149.6 kilograms of skunk concealed in rice shafts. In a separate operation in Ibadan, a suspect, Adeniyi Adeola (a.k.a Prince), was nabbed at Foko, Agbeni Market, on Wednesday, 4 February.
Recovered from his truck marked BDJ 767 YC were 10,820 ampoules of pentazocine injection and 117,820 capsules of tramadol.
Also in Ibadan, a drug kingpin, Jimoh Nurudeen, 40, who owns a facility where he produces Colorado, a synthetic cannabis, was on Saturday, 7 February, arrested at Badeku area of Ibadan, along with his accomplice, Ogundipe Yusuf, 27.
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Recovered from them were 8 litres of precursor chemical, 14 grams of skunk and other paraphernalia of “Colos” production, as well as monetary exhibit of ₦7,408,400.00 and two vehicles: a Mercedes-Benz SUV marked ABC 832 AZ and a Toyota Highlander with registration number 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 truck led to the recovery of 395,400 capsules of tramadol concealed in parts of the petrol-laden vehicle, while the driver was taken into custody.
While a couple, Izuchukwu Azubuike, 37, and Ifunaya Mmadueke, 32, was arrested at Umuaka, Njaba, Imo State, with 203 kilograms of skunk on Saturday, 7 February, operatives in Ondo State on Friday, 6 February, recovered 420 kilograms of skunk in a bush at Ikun Akoko.
No fewer than 31 wraps of cocaine hidden in a handbag were seized by operatives of the Marine Command of NDLEA from a suspect, Eze Nodebechi Austin, upon his arrival from Côte d’Ivoire in a passenger boat at Yekeme, Badagry, Lagos State, on Friday, 6 February.
A suspect, Adekunle Oluwatosin Olajide, was on Wednesday, 4 February, arrested on Lagos Island by NDLEA operatives, who recovered 3.6 kilograms of Canadian Loud and Colorado from him.
In Enugu, a drug dealer, Emeka Okeke, 37, was nabbed in his hideout at Akuruka Street, Asata, Ezeagu, where various quantities of skunk, meth, cocaine and molly, as well as a monetary exhibit of ₦457,700, were seized from him.
Meanwhile, 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 Agulu Awka Community Secondary School, Awka, Anambra; Okeodo Community High School, Igboora, Oyo; and Wisdom Foundation Secondary School, Ado, Lagos, while Niger State Command of NDLEA paid a WADA advocacy visit to the Emir of Suleja, Alhaji Mohammed Auwal Ibrahim, among others.
While commending the officers and men of the MAKIA, Marine, FCT, Taraba, Oyo, Kwara, Imo, Ondo and Lagos Commands for the arrests and seizures, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig Gen Mohamed Marwa (Rtd), enjoined them and their colleagues across the country to maintain the current level of professionalism and commitment in all their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction activities.
