The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has recorded a string of major drug busts across the country, including the arrest of a 62-year-old Lagos businessman caught attempting to traffic cocaine to China through the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport.
NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, disclosed that the suspect, Nwabueze Nicholas Izueke, was intercepted on January 31 during outward clearance for an Ethiopian Airlines flight bound for China via Addis Ababa.
A body scan reportedly revealed he had ingested illicit drugs, leading to his placement under observation, where he later expelled 95 jumbo-sized wraps of cocaine weighing about 1.589 kilograms.
The suspect allegedly confessed he ventured into drug trafficking to raise funds to complete a building project in his hometown of Iwollo in Enugu State.
In a related operation in the Federal Capital Territory, operatives uncovered 627.7 kilograms of skunk hidden in a warehouse in Kubwa, while another intelligence-led mission foiled attempts to smuggle methamphetamine concealed in MP3 speakers from Enugu to Abuja and Kaduna.
Several suspects were subsequently arrested following coordinated interceptions in Abuja, Zuba and Kaduna.
In Lagos, NDLEA Marine Command officers seized cocaine concealed in a handbag from a passenger arriving by boat from Côte d’Ivoire, while separate operations in Lagos Island and Enugu led to the arrest of suspected drug dealers with various quantities of narcotics and cash exhibits.
The agency says the arrests highlight its intensified nationwide crackdown on drug trafficking networks, reaffirming its commitment to disrupting the production, distribution and consumption of illicit substances across Nigeria.
Reporting By Nosa Aituamen