China-bound businessman arrested at Kano Airport after swallowing 95 wraps of cocaine

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 62-year-old Lagos-based businessman, Nwabueze Nicholas Izueke, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano, for attempting to traffic cocaine to China by ingesting dozens of drug pellets.

Izueke was apprehended on Saturday, January 31, during the outward clearance of passengers boarding an Ethiopian Airlines flight to China via Addis Ababa.

A body scan reportedly confirmed he had ingested illicit substances, prompting officials to place him under observation.

The suspect later expelled 95 jumbo-sized wraps of cocaine weighing a total of 1.589 kilograms.

According to NDLEA, Izueke, who said he deals in clothing and auto spare parts in Lagos, claimed he turned to drug trafficking to raise funds to complete a house project in his hometown of Iwollo, Enugu State.

The arrest formed part of a series of interdictions recorded by the agency across the country in the past week.

At the Marine Command in Lagos, officers intercepted 31 wraps of cocaine concealed in a handbag from a passenger arriving by boat from Côte d’Ivoire at Yekeme, Badagry.

Another suspect was arrested on Lagos Island with 3.6 kilograms of Canadian Loud and Colorado, while a drug dealer in Enugu was apprehended with assorted narcotics and cash exhibits.

NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers involved in the operations and urged them to sustain the crackdown on drug trafficking networks nationwide.