Crime
PHOTOS: NDLEA Arrests Brazil Returnees, Businesswoman, Seizes Drug Shipments Across Nigeria
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has recorded major breakthroughs in the fight against drug trafficking, arresting two men who returned from Brazil with heroin and cocaine in their bodies, alongside other seizures that stretched from Lagos to Zamfara, Adamawa and Edo.
In a statement released on Sunday, September 21, 2025, and signed by Femi Babafemi, Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja, the agency disclosed that the arrests were made at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, and across several states.
One of the suspects, 46-year-old Ofoma Sunday, was stopped on September 16 after arriving from Brazil via Ethiopia. A body scan confirmed that he had ingested drugs.
While under observation, he excreted 111 wraps of heroin weighing 1.45 kilograms. NDLEA operatives later stormed a hotel in Amuwo Odofin, where he was instructed to deliver the drugs, and arrested 55-year-old Nweke Jude Chuckwudi, the alleged receiver.
Just days later, another returnee, Ukachukwu Frank Ikechukwu, was picked up on September 19. He was carrying cocaine internally and, under watch, expelled five large wraps weighing 145 grams.
He admitted he had inserted nine wraps in Brazil but could only reinsert seven after suffering anal pain while transiting through Ethiopia. He flushed the remaining two wraps in a toilet before boarding his flight to Nigeria.
In another case at Lagos airport, Okolonkwo Ebere Theresa, a businesswoman from Enugu, was caught on September 14 while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to Doha.
She had concealed 1.40 kilograms of methamphetamine in her butt pad underwear. According to her statement, she runs a second-hand clothing trade and POS business but was lured into trafficking.
NDLEA operatives also uncovered shipments concealed in everyday goods. At the NAHCO export shed, 2.3 kilograms of meth hidden in food items destined for Hong Kong were intercepted, while a separate consignment of 257 grams of cocaine concealed inside seven phone chargers was stopped from leaving for New Zealand.
The crackdown extended beyond Lagos. In Adamawa, officers recovered 233,800 pills of tramadol across different raids, including one abandoned vehicle loaded with the drugs. In Zamfara, a truck conveying over one ton of skunk cannabis was seized.
In Edo, two cannabis farms covering more than four hectares were destroyed, yielding over 11,000 kilograms of illegal plants.
While praising the operatives, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), said: “These arrests and seizures represent a significant milestone in our determined effort to dismantle drug trafficking organizations operating in Nigeria and around the world, prioritizing those bent on targeting our productive youth population with illicit substances until they’re no longer able to inflict harm on our communities or misrepresent our country’s image in the global space.”
The statement added that NDLEA formations across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation drive in schools, religious centres, workplaces and communities during the week.
Below are pictures taken after the arrests:
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