Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 62-year-old Lagos-based businessman, Nwabueze Nicholas Izueke, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, while heading to China with 95 jumbo-sized wraps of cocaine weighing 1.589 kilogrammes concealed in his stomach.
The agency said Izueke was arrested on January 31, 2026, during the outward clearance of passengers travelling to China via Addis Ababa on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET940. NDLEA stated that a body scan confirmed ingestion of illicit drugs, after which the suspect was placed under excretion observation and subsequently expelled 95 pellets of the Class A drug in seven excretions.
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In his statement, the suspect reportedly claimed he engaged in drug trafficking to raise funds to complete a country home he is building in his village, Iwollo, Enugu State.
In a related operation, NDLEA operatives recovered 627.7 kilogrammes of skunk, a strain of cannabis, from a makeshift warehouse within Fums Plaza in Kubwa, Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The agency also foiled 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. The consignments were intercepted in a bus in Abuja on February 6.
A follow-up operation in Zuba, FCT, led to the arrest of Okeke, identified as the owner of one of the parcels containing 173 grammes of methamphetamine, while Ugwu, Arinze and Michael were arrested on February 7 in Kaduna when they attempted to collect the second consignment weighing 28 grammes.
At the Dan-anacha patrol point in Gassol Local Council of Taraba State on February 6, NDLEA operatives intercepted a suspect, Yusuf Abubakar, 32, conveying packs of Hollandia yoghurt from Lagos to Mubi, Adamawa State.
Acting on intelligence, officers searched the consignment and discovered wraps of methamphetamine weighing 1.8 kilogrammes concealed in some of the yoghurt packs.
Similarly, in Oyo State, NDLEA officers on February 5 arrested a Beninois national, Shuaibu Abdulrahman, 29, at Ibudo-Igboho village, Sooro Kishi, where 149.6 kilogrammes of skunk concealed in rice sacks were recovered. In a separate operation in Ibadan on February 4, operatives arrested Adeniyi Adeola, also known as Prince, at Foko, Agbeni Market, recovering 10,820 ampoules of pentazocine injection and 117,820 capsules of tramadol from his truck marked BDJ 767 YC.
Also in Ibadan, NDLEA operatives on February 7 arrested a suspected drug kingpin, Jimoh Nurudeen, 40, at the Badeku area, along with his accomplice, Ogundipe Yusuf, 27. Recovered items included eight litres of precursor chemicals, 14 grammes of skunk, other paraphernalia used for producing Colorado, a synthetic cannabis, N7,408,400 in cash, 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 February 7 intercepted a fuel tanker conveying petrol from Lagos to Maiduguri, Borno State, and recovered 395,400 capsules of tramadol concealed in parts of the truck. The driver was taken into custody.
Operatives in Imo State also arrested a couple, Izuchukwu Azubuike, 37, and Ifunaya Mmadueke, 32, with 203 kilogrammes of skunk on February 7 at Umuaka, Njaba, while operatives in Ondo State on February 6 recovered 420 kilogrammes of skunk in a bush at Ikun Akoko.
In Lagos State, operatives of the Marine Command of NDLEA seized 31 wraps of cocaine concealed in a handbag from a suspect, Eze Nodebechi Austin, upon his arrival from Côte d’Ivoire in a passenger boat at Yekeme, Badagry, on February 6. Another suspect, Adekunle Oluwatosin Olajide, was arrested on February 4 at Lagos Island with 3.6 kilogrammes of Canadian Loud and Colorado.
In Enugu State, a suspected drug dealer, Emeka Okeke, 37, was arrested at his hideout on Akuruka Street, Asata, Ezeagu, where various quantities of skunk, methamphetamine, cocaine and molly, as well as N457,700 in cash, were recovered.