The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has apprehended a 41-year-old entrepreneur, Abugu Oliver Ikechukwu, a resident of São Paulo, Brazil, for attempting to bring 6.10 kilograms of liquid cocaine into Nigeria. The illicit substance was cleverly hidden within shirts and towels.
According to a Sunday statement by NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, the suspect was captured at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos, upon his arrival from Brazil via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight on June 11, 2026.
A meticulous examination of his luggage uncovered 14 towels and shirts saturated with dried liquid cocaine, meticulously pressed to evade detection. The suspect claimed he had resided in Brazil for over 14 years, managing an African eatery, and was visiting Nigeria to see his wife and procure provisions for his business.
In separate operations, the agency also arrested two individuals with disabilities: Chidimma Sunday, 60, and Abubakar Usman, 28. Chidimma was captured by the Umuosu Vigilante Group in Umuna Autonomous Community, Isialangwa North LGA, Abia State, with 1.8 kilograms of skunk, and handed over to NDLEA on June 10. Usman was nabbed in a raid at Rumuokoro, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on June 9, with 400 grams of skunk, five grams of methamphetamine, 100 grams of tramadol, five grams of swinol, and 18 grams of diazepam.
In Delta State, operatives seized Onya Jude, 36, at Ogwashi-Uku in Aniocha South LGA on June 8, finding five gas cylinders hiding 2.8 kilograms of Loud, a potent cannabis strain. The agency further detained drug dealers Jamilu Idris, 40, alias Jama, and Aminu Abdullahi, 33, alias Momo, at Kasuwan Katako in Gombe State, with 2.738 kilograms of skunk.
In Kano State, Ngozi Gaius, 39, was arrested along the Zaria-Kano Road on June 12 transporting 6,000 tramadol pills (225mg each). Similarly, Nasiru Hamza, 47, and Muhammad Sani, 38, were intercepted on Bode Saadu Road in Kwara State on June 9, conveying 600 compressed blocks of skunk (304 kilograms) in a black Toyota jeep (registration PJHR 783).
In Taraba State, a raid on Ali Adamu’s, 45, warehouse in Maihula village, Bali LGA, on June 13 yielded 63 jumbo bags of cannabis sativa (1,121.5 kilograms). That same day, Emmanuel Nnadi, 46, was stopped on the Gwagwalada Expressway in the FCT, leading to the seizure of 30,400 tramadol pills of various strengths, 750 pregabalin 300mg pills, 200 molly pills, and 592 bottles of codeine-based syrup.
In Lagos State, operatives recovered a 1,102-kilogram consignment of Ghana Loud near Alaba International Market in Ojo area on June 13. The agency’s commands have intensified anti-drug abuse campaigns through its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) initiative, targeting schools, communities, workplaces, and traditional institutions.
NDLEA Chairman Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.) commended the MMIA, Abia, Rivers, Kano, Kwara, Delta, Gombe, Lagos, and FCT commands for their successes, urging continued efforts to combat drug trafficking and abuse nationwide.