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Two Nigerian men living in France have been arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, after allegedly swallowing 200 wraps of cocaine weighing 3.46 kilogrammes in an attempt to smuggle the drugs back to Europe.
The suspects, identified as Aliocus Godian Odife and Sam Blackborn, were intercepted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Wednesday, October 28, while undergoing departure clearance for an Air France flight to Paris.
The two men had reportedly travelled to Nigeria for a holiday before allegedly ingesting the cocaine pellets to transport them back to France.
According to the NDLEA, the suspects were subjected to body scans which revealed foreign objects in their stomachs, leading to their arrest and subsequent placement under observation.
The agency disclosed the arrests in a statement issued on Sunday by its Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi.
Odife, who reportedly lives in France and works in a factory, arrived in Nigeria on October 21 for a short holiday.
However, as he prepared to return to France days later, a body scan conducted by NDLEA operatives allegedly revealed that he had swallowed illicit substances.
During interrogation, he reportedly admitted ingesting 110 pellets of cocaine.
He was subsequently placed under observation and excreted all 110 wraps, which tested positive for cocaine and weighed 1.901 kilogrammes.
His co-traveller, Blackborn, was also intercepted at the airport’s departure hall after his body scan similarly indicated the presence of foreign objects in his stomach.
The suspect reportedly confessed to swallowing 90 pellets of cocaine and subsequently excreted all of them under observation.
The recovered wraps tested positive for cocaine and weighed 1.559 kilogrammes.
The arrests were among several operations conducted by the NDLEA across different states, leading to the seizure of large quantities of illicit drugs and the interception of live ammunition.
In a separate operation along the Abuja–Kaduna Expressway, NDLEA operatives arrested a woman, Aisha Isah, at a tollgate with 266 rounds of live AK-47 ammunition.
The agency did not disclose where the ammunition was being transported to or the intended recipient.
Along the Zaria–Kano Expressway, operatives also arrested a 68-year-old man, Ifeanyi Egwolonwu, at Gwargwaje, Zaria, with 2,770 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 100 ampoules of diazepam injection, 11,000 tablets of diazepam and 4,500 tablets of Exol-5.
In Lagos, NDLEA operatives intercepted two vehicles allegedly transporting large quantities of skunk, a potent strain of cannabis, from Lagos Island to the Mainland.
The first operation on October 25 led to the interception of a white Volkswagen LT 28 bus along Kudirat Abiola Way, Ikeja, with 537 kilogrammes of skunk recovered.
On the same day, another team intercepted a brown J5 bus along the Gbagada–Oshodi Expressway and seized an additional 439 kilogrammes of the substance.
In Oyo State, two men, Oguntona Nasiru, 46, and Soji Balogun, 47, were arrested on October 29 while allegedly loading 554 kilogrammes of skunk into a Volvo truck along Idere Road, Igboora.
The operation was part of a follow-up investigation targeting a suspected drug dealer identified as ‘Omo Oba’, who reportedly escaped arrest during an earlier operation on October 25.
During the earlier operation, NDLEA operatives seized 309.5 kilogrammes of cannabis, popularly known as Ghanaian Loud, allegedly linked to the suspected dealer.
In Kano State, operatives raided a location in the Tsamiya area of Gezawa on October 26, recovering 247,500 tablets of diazepam weighing 57.7 kilogrammes and 100,000 tablets of Exol-5 weighing 38.7 kilogrammes.
Two days later, another operation in the Dorayi area led to the arrest of Ziya’ulhaq Abdullahi, 35, and Garba Muhammed, 52, with 19,250 tablets of tramadol 225mg weighing 13.6 kilogrammes.
In another raid at Tashan Banke, seven suspects, including Faisal Adamu, were arrested, while 178.85 kilogrammes of cannabis and quantities of diazepam, tramadol, Exol-5 and pregabalin were recovered.
In Ondo State, operatives raided cannabis farms in Ijare Forest on October 25 following intelligence reports and arrested four suspects.
Those arrested included Bassey Okon, 24; Abraham Edet, 20; and Oto Udo, 24. A total of 16 bags of processed cannabis weighing 180 kilogrammes were recovered.
In Edo State, NDLEA operatives, supported by soldiers, raided Eko Camp in Ilushi, Esan South East Local Government Area, on October 28.
The operation led to the destruction of a cannabis plantation measuring 1.646 hectares, with an estimated yield of 4,115.53 kilogrammes.
A 50-year-old woman, Christiana Uboi, was arrested at the camp with 301 kilogrammes of processed cannabis, while another 176 kilogrammes was recovered during the operation.
In Sokoto State, operatives of the NDLEA Zone 7 Command arrested a 68-year-old man, Ibrahim Ayuba, on October 31, with 236.6 kilogrammes of skunk following an intelligence-led operation.
Meanwhile, the agency said its commands across the country continued public sensitisation campaigns under its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) initiative, targeting schools, religious institutions, workplaces and communities.
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers involved in the operations, particularly those who intercepted the two cocaine couriers at the Abuja airport.
Marwa described the arrests as a warning to Nigerians living abroad who might believe their foreign residence could shield them from drug trafficking investigations.
He said NDLEA operatives at the country’s entry and exit points remained vigilant and warned against risking lives and liberty by ingesting illicit drugs in exchange for money.
He also directed officers to sustain the crackdown on drug trafficking networks while intensifying drug prevention and awareness campaigns across the country.
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