NDLEA arrests businessman at Lagos airport with cocaine as nationwide raids uncover massive cannabis and opioid seizures across Nigeria

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a Brazil-based Nigerian businessman, Uche Franklin Onyekwere, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, for allegedly concealing cocaine on his body and inside his footwear.

Also read: NDLEA seizes N3bn heroin as Brazilian woman arrested in Abuja

The arrest took place on Thursday, January 29, during the inward clearance of passengers arriving on a South African Airways flight from Brazil via Johannesburg, following what the agency described as processed intelligence.

In a statement on Sunday, NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said a full body scan conducted on the 47-year-old suspect confirmed drug concealment, prompting a strip search.

According to the statement, a large parcel of a white powdery substance later confirmed as cocaine was found wrapped around the suspect’s right thigh, while two additional wraps were discovered hidden in the soles of his shoes.

The total weight of the three wraps was put at 1.60 kilograms.

During preliminary interrogation, Onyekwere reportedly admitted purchasing the drugs in Brazil with the intention of reselling them in Nigeria to raise capital for his business and fund the naming ceremony of his newborn child.

He was said to have lived in São Paulo since 2008, where he operated a toy business for about nine years.

In a related operation, NDLEA operatives at the Tincan Seaport in Lagos intercepted 55 jumbo bags of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, weighing 1,183 kilograms.

The consignment, imported from Montreal, Canada, was discovered during a joint examination involving NDLEA, Customs and other security agencies. The drugs were hidden inside a Hyundai SUV and a Toyota Matrix loaded in a container.

In Niger State, operatives intercepted a truck along the Dei-Dei Abuja expressway carrying 176 bags of skunk weighing 2,735 kilograms and one kilogram of Colorado, a synthetic cannabis.

Three suspects — Andy Chidogu, 49; Kenneth Ogene, 45; and Sadiq Olanrewaju, 27 — were arrested.

Investigations indicated the truck had earlier delivered flour to Edo State before being hired to transport the drugs for a fee of N1.7 million.

Further operations in Edo State led to the arrest of Shaibu Yusuf along the Auchi–Abuja expressway with 66 bags of skunk weighing 792 kilograms concealed in charcoal sacks.

NDLEA officers, supported by the Nigerian Army, also raided a cannabis farm in Ebora camp, Ilushi, Esan South East Local Government Area, destroying 4,063.675 kilograms of skunk cultivated on over 1.6 hectares of farmland.

An additional 328 kilograms of processed cannabis and seeds were recovered, while four suspects were arrested.

In Anambra State, operatives intercepted a cement truck at Upper Iweka, Onitsha, recovering 345.2 kilograms of skunk concealed among bags of cement.

The drug was allegedly linked to Abum Okeke, 42.

Two suspects were arrested in Ondo State in connection with the seizure of 473 kilograms of skunk, while in Kano State, officers arrested a suspect with 12,500 ampoules of pentazocine injection and another with 4,390 pills of tramadol.

Elsewhere in Lagos, Oragwan Ekene was arrested with 15.5 kilograms of skunk at Alaba while allegedly attempting to transport it to Onitsha.

At the Seme border, operatives recovered 3.5 kilograms of the substance concealed in a sound system and cereal packs from the luggage of another suspect arriving from Cotonou.