The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a 25-year-old businessman, Lovely Chukwulobelu, for allegedly attempting to smuggle cocaine out of Nigeria through the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu.

Chukwulobelu was arrested at the airport's departure hall while allegedly preparing to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Portugal through Addis Ababa.

According to the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the suspect had allegedly ingested the cocaine before his arrest and was subsequently placed under excretion observation.

He later expelled 72 wraps of cocaine, according to the agency. 

Babafemi said the suspect, who resides in Portugal, had recently returned to Nigeria and got married 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 suspect previously operated a car decoration business at the Trade Fair Complex in Ojo, Lagos, before relocating to Portugal in 2023.

In a separate operation at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, NDLEA operatives seized 2.55 million pills of tramadol and tapentadol weighing 1,640.55kg.

The agency said the seizure followed a joint examination of three monitored consignments imported from India and Bangladesh through Qatar Airways, RwandAir and Ethiopian Airlines.

The consignments contained Tramaking 225mg, Tramaking 250mg and Royal Tapentadol 250mg.

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

The drugs were allegedly concealed in a false compartment of a truck marked MUB757 YH.

In Edo State, NDLEA operatives, assisted by soldiers, destroyed two cannabis farms at Eko Camp, Ilushi, on September 23.

The farms were estimated to have a combined yield of 1,360.23kg of cannabis.

Meanwhile, two women, Odumabo Kehinde, 36, and Obiekwe Chioma, 40, were arrested during a raid on Anifowoshe Street, Mushin, Lagos, with 3.4kg of skunk.

Another suspect, 58-year-old Ugwu Johnson, was arrested at Ebute-Ero Motor Park, Lagos, where NDLEA officers allegedly 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, two Togolese nationals, Yinusa Abdulsamad, 35, and Fatai Baba, 33, were arrested along the Iganna-Ilero Road in Iganna.

The NDLEA said the suspects 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, five suspects were also arrested with 420 cartons of nitrous oxide, popularly known as laughing gas, weighing 1,688.4kg. The suspects were identified as Kingsley John, 40; John Chibuike Okeke, 44; Lamidi Ismaila, 40; Babatunde Samuel, 42; and Afeesu Idowu, 47.

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

Beyond enforcement operations, the NDLEA conducted its War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation campaign in schools, religious centres, workplaces and communities across the country during the week.

NDLEA Chairman, Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended personnel of the agency's commands in Lagos, Enugu, Oyo, Edo, Seme and Bauchi for the operations and urged officers nationwide to sustain the agency's approach to drug control.