The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested two businessmen and a Canadian nurse at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos for attempting to smuggle cocaine and cannabis.
The first arrest took place on October 15, 2024. A businessman, Ihejirika Okechukwu Emmanuel, was trying to board a flight to Thailand. Security checks revealed he had swallowed cocaine. After being closely watched, he expelled five large wraps of cocaine, weighing 400 grams. The 51-year-old confessed that he needed the money from the drug deal to support his fish import business.
Just two days later, on October 17, NDLEA officers arrested another businessman, Iwuagwu Ikedi Victory. He had arrived from Brazil, and during routine passenger checks, it was discovered that he had swallowed cocaine. He later passed one pellet of the drug, weighing 22 grams. Iwuagwu admitted to swallowing 30 wraps of cocaine in Brazil, but he handed over 29 pellets to someone in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He was promised N2.5 million for transporting the drugs.
In a separate case earlier in the month, on October 4, a Canada-based nurse, Usman Grace Khadijat Olami, was arrested after arriving from Toronto. During a search of her luggage, officers found 70 parcels of synthetic cannabis (popularly known as “Loud”), weighing a total of 35.7 kilograms. Grace said she was bringing the drugs to Nigeria under the instruction of her boyfriend.
These arrests underline NDLEA’s commitment to tackling drug trafficking through Nigeria’s busiest airport and preventing the illegal flow of drugs into and out of the country.
