The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested Nwabueze Izueke, a 62-year-old Lagos-based businessman, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano, for allegedly attempting to traffic 95 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.589 kilograms to China. Izueke was apprehended on Saturday, January 31, during the outward clearance of passengers traveling to China via Addis Ababa on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET940.

The NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, stated that Izueke tested positive for ingesting illicit drugs after a body scan and was placed under excretion observation, during which he expelled the 95 pellets of cocaine in seven rounds. Izueke claimed he ventured into drug trafficking to raise funds to complete a house in his hometown, Iwollo, Enugu state.

The NDLEA also reported multiple arrests and seizures across the country, including:

-Abuja: 627.7 kilograms of skunk recovered from a makeshift warehouse, and foiled attempts to smuggle methamphetamine concealed in MP3 speakers

-Taraba: 1.8 kilograms of methamphetamine concealed in yoghurt packs

-Oyo: 149.6 kilograms of skunk concealed in rice shafts

-Ibadan: 10,820 ampoules of pentazocine injection and 117,820 capsules of tramadol seized

-Kwara: 395,400 capsules of tramadol concealed in a fuel tanker

The agency’s chairman, Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended the officers involved in the arrests and seizures, urging personnel to sustain professionalism and commitment in drug supply and demand reduction efforts.