The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has arrested a 25 year old newlywed businessman for attempting to smuggle 72 wraps of cocaine to Portugal.
The suspect, identified as Lovely Chukwulobelu, was arrested at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, on Friday, September 25, 2026, while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Portugal via Addis Ababa.
He was intercepted at the departure hall with the drugs concealed in his stomach. Officials said he was still wearing his wedding ring when he was caught.
According to the NDLEA, the suspect was placed under excretion observation and later egested a total of 72 wraps of cocaine.
In his statement, Chukwulobelu claimed he was into car decoration business at the Trade Fair Complex in Ojo, Lagos, before relocating to Portugal in May 2023. He said he recently returned to Nigeria to get married on September 13, 2026, and resorted to drug trafficking to offset expenses incurred during his wedding.
In a related development, NDLEA operatives at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Lagos, intercepted 2,550,000 pills of Tramakings 225mg and 250mg and Royal Tapentadol 250mg.
The pills were recovered during a joint examination of three consignments on Tuesday, September 22. The consignments, which weighed 1,640.55kg, were imported from India and Bangladesh through Qatar Airways, RwandAir and Ethiopian Airlines.
In Bauchi State, two suspects, Umar Hamidu, 35, and Abdulkarim Salihu, 45, were arrested along Maiduguri bypass with 300 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 262.5kg concealed in a false compartment of a truck marked MUB757 YH.
In Edo State, operatives destroyed 7,014.75kg of skunk cultivated on 2.8059 hectares of farmland at Afo village, Owan East LGA, and recovered 48kg of the same substance.
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