The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 25-year-old newlywed businessman, Lovely Chukwulobelu, at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, for attempting to smuggle 72 wraps of cocaine to Portugal.

Chukwulobelu was intercepted by NDLEA operatives at the airport’s departure hall on Thursday, September 25, 2026, while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Portugal through Addis Ababa. He had ingested the cocaine and was subsequently placed under excretion observation, during which he expelled all 72 wraps of the Class A illicit drug.

The NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement issued by the agency’s headquarters in Abuja on Sunday, September 27, 2026, adding that the arrest was among a series of major operations conducted by the agency across the country.

The suspect, who said he previously operated a car decoration business at the Trade Fair Complex in Ojo, Lagos, disclosed that he relocated to Portugal in May 2023 and recently returned to Nigeria for his wedding on September 13. He reportedly told investigators that he became involved in drug trafficking in an attempt to offset expenses incurred during his wedding.

The operations also led to the interception of more than 2.5 million opioid pills at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.

At the MMIA import shed on Tuesday, September 22, NDLEA operatives, during a joint examination of three monitored consignments, seized 2,550,000 pills of Tramaking 225mg, Tramaking 250mg and Royal Tapentadol 250mg, weighing 1,640.55 kilogrammes in total.

The consignments, imported from India and Bangladesh through Qatar Airways, RwandAir and Ethiopian Airlines, were among the largest opioid seizures recorded by the agency this year.

In Bauchi State, operatives arrested Umar Hamidu, 35, and Abdulkarim Salihu, 45, along the Maiduguri bypass with 300 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 262.5kg. The cannabis was concealed in the false bottom of a truck marked MUB757 YH.

In Edo State, NDLEA officers, supported by soldiers, destroyed two cannabis farms at Eko Camp, Ilushi, on September 23. The farms had a combined estimated yield of 1,360.23kg of cannabis.

Lagos also recorded a series of arrests. Two women, Odumabo Kehinde, 36, and Obiekwe Chioma, 40, were arrested during a raid on Anifowoshe Street, Mushin, on September 26, with 3.4kg of skunk.

On the same day, NDLEA operatives intercepted 58-year-old Ugwu Johnson at Ebute-Ero motor park with 5.920kg of skunk, 2,400 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 8,400 tablets of nitrazepam and 40,000 pills of tramadol.

In Oyo State, two Togolese nationals, Yinusa Abdulsamad, 35, and Fatai Baba, 33, were arrested along the Iganna-Ilero road, Iganna, with 305.6kg of skunk concealed in two pickup vans.

The agency said the suspects were allegedly involved in a cross-border trafficking operation moving Ghanaian-sourced cannabis into Nigeria through the Oyo axis.

At the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, five suspects were also arrested with 420 cartons of nitrous oxide, popularly known as laughing gas, weighing 1,688.4kg. Two vehicles allegedly used to convey the consignment from the border into Lagos were equally recovered.

The suspects are Kingsley John, 40; John Chibuike Okeke, 44; Lamidi Ismaila, 40; Babatunde Samuel, 42; and Afeesu Idowu, 47.

Beyond interdiction operations, the NDLEA said its commands and formations continued with its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaign across schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities.

Among the activities were sensitisation lectures at Community High School, Saki, Oyo State; Auchi College, Auchi, Edo State; Alkali Modibbo Islamic Centre, Dukku, Gombe State; and Junior Arabic Secondary School, Kahu, Kibiya Local Government Area of Kano State.

The Delta Ports Command also paid a WADA advocacy visit to the Olu of Warri, His Royal Majesty Ogiame Atuwatshe III, in Delta State.

Commending personnel of the MMIA, AIIA, Lagos, Oyo, Edo, Seme and Bauchi Commands for the operations, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), urged officers and men across the country to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control.