Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a China-based Nigerian businessman, Ibeanu Chukwudulue and two Angolans, Mbandu Makiadi and Ngoma Fernando, for attempting to smuggle 236 wraps of cocaine at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, and Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, respectively.
In a Sunday statement signed by Femi Babafemi, the NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, the suspects, upon arrest and body scan, excreted a total of 236 wraps of cocaine.
The statement reads, “A China-based Nigerian businessman, Ibeanu Vincent Chukwudulue and two Angolan citizens: Mbandu Martins Makiadi and Ngoma Wilson Fernando have excreted a total of 236 wraps of cocaine following their arrest by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja and Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, respectively.
“The 34-year-old Ibeanu was arrested on Wednesday, 4th February 2026, while on board a Qatar Airways flight 1432, from Kano to China enroute Abuja/Doha. Acting on credible intelligence, NDLEA operatives at the Abuja airport demanded that the suspect be deboarded, following which he was taken for a body scan. The result confirmed the suspect ingested an illicit drug.
“He was thereafter placed under observation during which he excreted a total of 52 pellets of cocaine that weighed 735.95 grams. In his statement, Ibeanu said he was into business on Lagos Island before relocating to Guangzhou, China in 2024.”
The statement added, “The duo of Mbandu Martins Makiadi, 50, and Ngoma Wilson Fernando, 52, both Angolans, were intercepted on Wednesday, 4th February at the screening point of the departure hall of Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, during the outward clearance of passengers going to Istanbul, Turkey via Addis Ababa on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET940.
“When they were taken for a body scan, they tested positive for ingesting an illicit drug. As a result, they were kept under observation for possible excretion. While Mbandu excreted a total of 76 wraps weighing 920 grams in seven excretions, Ngoma expelled 108 pellets that weighed 1.33 kilograms in five excretions.
“During the interview, the suspects who hail from Hoji Ya Henda in Luanda, the capital of Angola, claimed they were recruited by a Luanda-based automobile spare parts dealer who promised to pay them $3000 each upon successful delivery of the consignments in Turkey.”
In a similar operation in Abuja, NDLEA operatives on Thursday, 12th February, “intercepted a waybill package sent from Enugu containing a children’s toy guitar. A search of the guitar revealed that it was used to conceal two parcels of Canadian Loud, a strain of Cannabis, weighing 59.2grams. A follow-up operation led to the arrest of the owner of the consignment, Henry Onuma, at Dream City Estate, Life Camp.”
In another operation in Lagos, NDLEA officers on “Friday 13th February raided a 4-bedroom duplex at 2 Alexandria Terrace, Ikate-Elegushi, Lekki, used for the production and storage of Colorado, a synthetic cannabis. The raid followed the seizure of 73 cartons of nitrous oxide at Iyare Motor Park, Ajah–Epe expressway, a consignment intended for Benin City, Edo State. The driver of the vehicle moving the shipment, Amos Innocent, was arrested while Victor Oyedeji was nabbed at the Lekki home where 13.2 kilograms of freshly produced Colos were recovered in addition to precursor chemicals.”
The statement further revealed that a 45-year-old notorious female drug dealer in Ibadan, Oyo state, Oluwayemisi Bunmi, was arrested on Wednesday, 11th February, at her enclave in Hope Alakia area of the state capital.
The statement added, “Recovered from her include: 1.189kg Colos, skunk; 320grams of methamphetamine; monetary exhibit of ₦2,975,000 and two cars: a Navy blue Toyota Matrix car marked JJJ 629 FQ and a Sky blue Toyota Matrix car with registration number LND 602 AQ.”
The statement also disclosed that no fewer than 105,400 pills of tramadol were recovered from a 43-year-old suspect, Kamilu Abdullahi, when his J5 vehicle marked DTM-765XA was intercepted by NDLEA operatives at Bode Saadu area of Kwara state on Thursday, 12th February.
Also in Edo state, “five suspects: Murtala Mohammed, 37; Abdulkadir Idris Mohammed, 29; Ufoma Edafe, 40; Anthony Aghati, 46; and Emmanuel Owalu Ekele, 39, were arrested on Saturday, 14th February, when NDLEA operatives raided the Yoruba Camp, Olumoye Forest, in Ovia North East LGA, where 563.5 kilograms of skunk were recovered.”
The Chairman of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), while commending the officers and men of the MAKIA, MMIA, NAIA, Lagos, Edo, Kwara, FCT, and Oyo Commands for the arrests, seizures and their professionalism, enjoined them and their colleagues across the country to continue the current balanced approach to their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.
