Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 25-year-old businessman, Lovely Chukwulobelu, at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, for allegedly attempting to traffic cocaine to Portugal.
According to a statement issued on Sunday, September 27, 2026, by Femi Babafemi, NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Chukwulobelu was intercepted at the airport's departure hall on Thursday, September 25, while preparing to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Portugal via Addis Ababa.
The agency said the suspect had allegedly ingested the cocaine wraps and was subsequently placed under excretion observation. He reportedly excreted 72 wraps of cocaine.
NDLEA said the suspect claimed he previously operated a car decoration business at the Trade Fair Complex in the Ojo area of Lagos before relocating to Portugal in May 2023.
According to the agency, Chukwulobelu recently returned to Nigeria and got married on September 13, 2026. He reportedly told investigators that he became involved in the alleged drug trafficking in an attempt to offset expenses incurred during his wedding.
The Enugu arrest was among several drug-related operations reported by the NDLEA across the country during the week.
At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Tuesday, September 22, intercepted three monitored consignments containing 2,550,000 pills of Tramaking 225mg, Tramaking 250mg and Royal Tapentadol 250mg. The agency said the consignments had a combined gross weight of 1,640.55 kilogrammes and were imported from India and Bangladesh through Qatar Airways, RwandAir and Ethiopian Airlines.
In Bauchi, NDLEA officers arrested Umar Hamidu, 35, and Abdulkarim Salihu, 45, along the Maiduguri bypass. The agency said the suspects were allegedly transporting 300 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 262.5kg, concealed in the false bottom of a truck.
In Edo State, two cannabis farms at Eko Camp, Ilushi, with a combined estimated yield of 1,360.23kg, were destroyed by NDLEA operatives supported by soldiers on September 23.
The agency also reported arrests and seizures in Lagos, Oyo and at the Seme border. Among the cases were the arrest of two women in Mushin with 3.4kg of skunk and the interception of a 58-year-old man at Ebute-Ero motor park with skunk, pentazocine injections, nitrazepam tablets and tramadol.
At Iganna-Ilero Road in Oyo State, NDLEA officers arrested two Togolese nationals, Yinusa Abdulsamad, 35, and Fatai Baba, 33, with 305.6kg of skunk allegedly concealed in two pickup vans.
At the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, five suspects were arrested with 420 cartons of nitrous oxide, weighing 1,688.4kg, according to the agency.
The NDLEA also said its commands and formations continued public sensitisation activities under its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign in schools, religious centres, workplaces and communities across the country.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd.), commended officers involved in the reported operations and urged personnel to sustain the agency's drug-control efforts.
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