NDLEA arrests drug couriers at Abuja, Enugu airports

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intensified its nationwide operations, arresting multiple suspects and intercepting illicit drugs at major airports and across several states.

At the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, operatives arrested Onyeka Valentine Emeka on May 20 after he excreted 185.36 grams of cocaine during inward passenger clearance from a flight originating in Sierra Leone via Addis Ababa.

Similarly, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, a 29-year-old building engineer, Babatunde Prosper Afekhide, was apprehended while attempting to board a flight to Italy.

A search of his luggage revealed 10,280 pills of tramadol and tapentadol concealed in foil and hidden in a suitcase.

In Lagos, NDLEA officers intercepted multiple drug consignments at a courier company, including 1,174 MDMA pills concealed in bicycle parts bound for the Netherlands, as well as tramadol shipments hidden in everyday items and destined for the United States and United Kingdom.

Operations extended to other parts of the country, with large seizures recorded in Edo, Ekiti, Kano, and along the Seme border.

These included hundreds of kilograms of cannabis and tens of thousands of opioid pills recovered during raids and patrols.

NDLEA Chairman, Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended officers for the successes, urging sustained efforts in both drug supply reduction and public sensitisation under the agency’s War Against Drug Abuse campaign.