The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a Brazil-based Nigerian businessman at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos after he was allegedly found with shirts and towels used to conceal liquid cocaine, in a major interception linked to a wider nationwide anti-drug operation.
The suspect, 41-year-old Abugu Ikechukwu, was taken into custody upon his arrival from São Paulo via Addis Ababa on an Ethiopian Airlines flight. According to the agency, a thorough search of his luggage uncovered 14 clothing items and towels impregnated with liquid cocaine, which had been dried and ironed to avoid detection.
NDLEA officials said laboratory analysis confirmed the concealed substance weighed 6.1 kilograms. The suspect reportedly told investigators that he had lived in Brazil for over a decade, where he runs an African restaurant, and had returned to Nigeria to visit family and purchase supplies for his business.
The arrest formed part of a broader nationwide crackdown in which NDLEA operatives recovered large quantities of illicit drugs, including cannabis, tramadol, methamphetamine, and other controlled substances across several states and the Federal Capital Territory.
In separate operations, the agency arrested multiple suspects linked to drug trafficking networks, including individuals living with disabilities allegedly involved in drug distribution. In Abia State, a 60-year-old woman was found with 1.8 kilograms of skunk, while another suspect was arrested in Rivers State with a mix of cannabis, tramadol, diazepam, and methamphetamine.
Significant seizures were also recorded in Taraba State, where over 1,100 kilograms of cannabis were recovered from a suspected drug warehouse, and in Lagos, where more than 1,100 kilograms of a potent cannabis strain known as “Ghana Loud” were intercepted near a major market area.
Additional arrests and seizures were made in Kwara, Abuja, Delta, Gombe, and Kano States, involving large consignments of cannabis and pharmaceutical opioids concealed in vehicles and residential areas.
The NDLEA also continued its nationwide drug awareness campaign under its War Against Drug Abuse initiative, targeting schools, communities, and traditional institutions to educate the public on the dangers of substance abuse.
The agency’s chairman commended officers involved in the operations, describing the coordinated busts as evidence of intensified efforts to dismantle drug trafficking networks across the country and reduce the availability of illicit substances.
He further urged operatives to sustain the momentum in ongoing nationwide anti-narcotics operations.
