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

According to the NDLEA, Chukwulobelu was arrested at the airport’s departure hall on September 25, 2026, while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Portugal via Addis Ababa.

The agency said he had ingested the cocaine and was subsequently placed under excretion observation, during which he expelled all 72 wraps of the Class A drug.

The NDLEA said the suspect told its operatives that he was into car decoration at the Trade Fair Complex, Ojo, Lagos, before relocating to Portugal in May 2023.

According to the agency, he recently returned to Nigeria for his wedding on September 13 and told investigators that he became involved in drug trafficking to offset expenses incurred during the ceremony.

Meanwhile, the NDLEA said its operatives at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, seized 2,550,000 pills of Tramaking 225mg, Tramaking 250mg and Royal Tapentadol 250mg, weighing 1,640.55kg.

The agency said the seizure, one of its biggest opioid interceptions of the year, followed a joint examination of three monitored consignments on Tuesday, September 22.

According to the NDLEA, the consignments were imported from India and Bangladesh through Qatar Airways, RwandAir and Ethiopian Airlines.

In Bauchi, the NDLEA said its operatives arrested Umar Hamidu, 35, and Abdulkarim Salihu, 45, along the Maiduguri bypass with 300 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 262.5kg.

The agency said the cannabis was concealed in a false compartment of a truck marked MUB757 YH.

In Edo State, the NDLEA said its officers, supported by soldiers, destroyed two cannabis farms at Eko Camp, Ilushi, on Wednesday, September 23. The agency estimated their combined yield at 1,360.23kg.

In Lagos, the NDLEA said its operatives arrested Odumabo Kehinde, 36, and Obiekwe Chioma, 40, during a raid on Anifowoshe Street, Mushin, on Saturday, September 26, and recovered 3.4kg of skunk.

In another operation the same day, the agency in a statement signed by Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said its operatives intercepted 58-year-old Ugwu Johnson at Ebute-Ero Motor Park and recovered 5.92kg of skunk, 2,400 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 8,400 tablets of nitrazepam and 40,000 pills of tramadol.

In Oyo State, the NDLEA said its officers arrested two Togolese nationals, Yinusa Abdulsamad, 35, and Fatai Baba, 33, along the Iganna-Ilero Road in Iganna.

According to the agency, the two men were allegedly transporting 305.6kg of skunk concealed in two pickup vans as part of a cross-border trafficking operation involving cannabis sourced from Ghana.

At the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos State, the NDLEA said its operatives arrested five suspects with 420 cartons of nitrous oxide, popularly known as laughing gas, weighing 1,688.4kg.

The agency also said two vehicles allegedly used to transport the consignment from the border into Lagos were seized.

The suspects were identified by the NDLEA as Kingsley John, 40; John Chibuike Okeke, 44; Lamidi Ismaila, 40; Babatunde Samuel, 42; and Afeesu Idowu, 47.