The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a former international footballer and several others in a string of operations that led to the seizure of over 22.6 kilogrammes of cocaine and methamphetamine at key airports in Lagos and Enugu.
At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, NDLEA operatives apprehended Segun George Hunkarin, a former footballer, and his associate, Ntoruka Emmanuel Chinedu, over an attempt to smuggle cocaine into the country. Chinedu, a regular traveller between Nigeria and Turkey, was caught on Tuesday, 24 June, with 800 grammes of cocaine concealed in his carry-on bag. He had transited through Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he collected the drugs from another individual. Hunkarin, who was waiting at the airport car park to receive the consignment, was also arrested. He admitted to past drug trafficking from Brazil to Ethiopia but denied previous smuggling into Nigeria.
In another operation at MMIA, NDLEA officers arrested Europe-based freight operator Amen Okoro Godstime on Friday, 27 June. He was caught attempting to smuggle 5,000 pills of tramadol 225mg disguised as anti-malarial drugs to Spain. Okoro, who planned to transit through Morocco to France and onward to Italy, claimed the pills were for retail.
At Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, NDLEA officers intercepted Chibuzor Emmanuel Ezenwaka, a bar attendant based in Maputo, Mozambique, with 17.5kg of methamphetamine and 3.05kg of cocaine hidden in bedsheets. He arrived from Johannesburg via Addis Ababa.
On the same flight, 54-year-old Azu Follygan Kpodar from Brazil was arrested after NDLEA agents discovered 1.25kg of liquid cocaine in a bottle of liquid soap in his luggage. Kpodar claimed he purchased the substance while shopping for his upcoming wedding in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, at Seme border, Badagry, operatives arrested 26-year-old Beninese national Vode Jean-Luck on 24 June with 29.5kg of cannabis skunk concealed in 69 balls, which he attempted to smuggle from Benin Republic into Nigeria.
In Kwara State, notorious dealer Mary Bolanle Oladele, also known as “Iya Nafi”, was arrested during a raid in Omu-Aran, where NDLEA recovered quantities of skunk, tramadol and flunitrazepam.
Also arrested was 72-year-old Mrs Christy Ejaro in Warri, Delta State, with several sachets of skunk intended for retail.
As part of its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) initiative, the NDLEA conducted sensitisation campaigns in schools across Katsina, Oyo, Abia, Enugu, Bayelsa and Ekiti States in the past week.
Commending the efforts of officers in Lagos, Enugu, Delta, Kwara and Seme, NDLEA Chairman/CEO, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), praised their work in balancing drug supply reduction with demand reduction nationwide.
