The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has made a series of high-profile arrests across multiple states as it intensifies its clampdown on drug trafficking networks operating through Nigeria’s airports and borders.
Among those apprehended is a former international footballer, Segun George Hunkarin, who was arrested alongside his associate, a businessman identified as Ntoruka Emmanuel Chinedu, over an attempt to smuggle cocaine into Nigeria through Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
The suspect, Chinedu, a regular traveler between Turkey and Nigeria known for transporting clothes and food items, was arrested upon arrival at MMIA on Tuesday, June 24, 2025.
NDLEA operatives according to a statement by the agency’s spokesman, Mr. Femi Babafemi, discovered 37 wraps of cocaine weighing 800 grams concealed in his carry-on bag.
Investigations revealed that Chinedu had picked up the drug-laden luggage during a transit stop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, before continuing to Lagos.
Further intelligence led to the arrest of Hunkarin, who was waiting at the airport car park to receive the consignment.
A former professional player who had a career in Brazil, Hunkarin admitted to past drug trafficking, stating that he had previously ferried drugs from Brazil to Ethiopia but had never attempted to bring any into Nigeria until now.
The Lagos airport also witnessed another bust on Friday, June 27, when NDLEA officers arrested Europe-based freight operator Amen Okoro Godstime.
Okoro was caught attempting to smuggle 5,000 pills of tramadol 225mg, disguised as malaria medication, to Spain.
Intercepted at the departure hall of Terminal 2 while boarding a Royal Air Maroc flight, Okoro confessed he planned to move the drugs from Spain to France and eventually to Italy for distribution.
In a separate operation at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, NDLEA operatives intercepted a Mozambican-based bar attendant, Ezenwaka Chibuzor Emmanuel, who was found in possession of a large quantity of hard drugs.
His luggage contained 17 parcels of methamphetamine weighing 17.5 kilograms and three parcels of cocaine weighing 3.05 kilograms.
The suspect had arrived from Johannesburg via Addis Ababa on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
Also on board the same flight was another suspect, 54-year-old Azu Follygan Kpodar, who was caught with a liquid substance in a container of soap, which later tested positive as liquid cocaine weighing 1.25 kilograms.
Kpodar, a toy merchant from Sao Paulo, Brazil, claimed he purchased the substance while preparing for his wedding in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, NDLEA officers stationed at the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, arrested a 26-year-old Beninese national, Vode Jean-Luck, as he attempted to smuggle 69 wraps of skunk, a potent strain of cannabis, weighing 29.5 kilograms into Nigeria from the Benin Republic.
In Kwara State, a notorious drug dealer, Mary Bolanle Oladele, widely known as “Iya Nafi,” was arrested in Omu-Aran, Irepodun LGA.
The raid on her hideout led to the recovery of various quantities of skunk, tramadol, and flunitrazepam.
In another operation in Delta State, NDLEA officers apprehended a 72-year-old woman, Christy Ejaro, in the Niger CAT area of Warri.
Many sachets of skunk, already packaged for retail, were seized during the arrest.
The NDLEA says these operations reflect its renewed commitment to dismantling drug networks across Nigeria and curbing the smuggling of narcotics through the nation’s borders and international airports.
Reporting by Nosa Aituamen