NDLEA Arrests Businessman With ₦23m Cocaine Hidden Inside Suitcase

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 48-year-old businessman, Nwankwo Innocent, after allegedly finding 1.55 kilograms of cocaine concealed in his luggage at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.

According to Ireporter Online, Nwankwo was arrested at the departure hall of Terminal II while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to New Delhi, India. The cocaine was reportedly hidden inside the walls and railings of his check-in bag.

The NDLEA, through its Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed that the suspect, who operates a marble business in Lagos, confessed to purchasing the consignment for ₦23 million.

According to the agency, Nwankwo said he had disposed of his business and other assets to raise the money, hoping to sell the cocaine in India for as much as ₦100 million. He remains in custody pending further investigation and prosecution.

In a separate operation in Lagos, NDLEA operatives reportedly raided a warehouse located within a residential compound on Hakeem Dosumu Street in the Ago Palace area of Okota. The operation led to the recovery of 3,776 cartons containing 377,600 bottles of codeine-based syrup, estimated to be worth more than ₦2.6 billion.

The agency also reported the arrest of a 55-year-old suspected drug kingpin, Shoremi Kayode, during a raid on his residence in Ipaja, Lagos. Operatives allegedly recovered 324 kilograms of Colorado, a synthetic strain of cannabis, valued at about ₦972 million, alongside two vehicles.

In Kwara State, two suspects were arrested with 55.96 kilograms of cannabis, while NDLEA operatives along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in Oyo State intercepted two other suspects allegedly transporting 52,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection and 6,000 ampoules of tramadol injection.

The agency also reported several other seizures and arrests across Delta, Plateau, Kano and Edo states involving large quantities of tramadol, codeine syrup, rohypnol, diazepam, pentazocine, cocaine, methamphetamine and cannabis.

In Kano State alone, NDLEA operatives reportedly arrested six suspects and recovered hundreds of thousands of opioid pills, alongside cocaine, methamphetamine, codeine syrup and synthetic cannabis.

The agency further disclosed that more than 4.6 tonnes of cannabis were destroyed at two cannabis farms covering about 1.85 hectares in the Ugboku/Igbanke forest area of Edo State, with suspects arrested during the operation.

NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended personnel involved in the various operations across the country, urging them to maintain the balance between reducing the supply of illicit drugs and preventing drug abuse through public sensitisation.

The agency said its War Against Drug Abuse advocacy programmes also continued during the week, with sensitisation activities conducted in schools and communities across several states.