A 25-year-old businessman, Lovely Chukwulobelu, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu State after allegedly ingesting 72 wraps of cocaine in an attempt to smuggle the illicit drug to Portugal.
Chukwulobelu was intercepted by NDLEA officers at the airport’s departure hall on Thursday, September 25, 2026, while preparing to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Portugal through Addis Ababa.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the suspect had the cocaine concealed in his stomach when he was stopped by the operatives.
The NDLEA said Chukwulobelu was subsequently placed under excretion observation at a designated facility, during which he expelled all 72 wraps of the substance.
The agency classified the recovered substance as cocaine, a Class A illicit drug under its enforcement framework.
The arrest reportedly occurred during routine drug interdiction activities at the Enugu airport, where officers monitor passengers and consignments considered suspicious.
The NDLEA said the suspect told investigators that he had previously operated a car decoration business at the Trade Fair Complex in the Ojo area of Lagos State before relocating to Portugal in May 2023.
According to the agency, Chukwulobelu recently returned to Nigeria and married on September 13, 2026.
The NDLEA alleged that the suspect became involved in the drug trafficking attempt in an effort to offset expenses incurred during his wedding.
The agency quoted him as explaining that financial obligations arising from the wedding contributed to his decision to engage in the illegal activity.
The arrest has drawn attention to the methods allegedly used by drug couriers to conceal narcotics while attempting to move them across international borders. Drug ingestion, in which illicit substances are swallowed in specially wrapped packages, is a method that poses significant health risks to the courier because leakage or rupture of the packages can expose the person to potentially fatal quantities of the drug.
In Chukwulobelu’s case, the NDLEA said all 72 wraps were eventually recovered after he was placed under observation.
The agency described the development as part of its continuing efforts to prevent illicit drugs from being transported out of Nigeria through airports and other international exit points.
The incident occurred against the backdrop of a wider series of arrests and drug seizures reported by the NDLEA across several parts of the country.
In its latest operational update, the agency said its officers had intercepted different categories of illicit drugs and arrested several suspects in operations carried out in Lagos, Oyo, Edo and Bauchi states.
The operations targeted various stages of the alleged drug supply chain, including cultivation, transportation, distribution and attempted exportation.
In Oyo State, for instance, NDLEA operatives arrested two Togolese nationals identified as 35-year-old Yinusa Abdulsamad and 33-year-old Fatai Baba.
The agency said the two men were arrested along the Iganna-Ilero Road in Iganna with 305.6 kilogrammes of skunk allegedly concealed in two pickup trucks.
According to the NDLEA, preliminary findings indicated that the vehicles were allegedly being used to transport cannabis sourced from Ghana into Nigeria through the Oyo axis.
In Lagos, the agency reported the discovery of a major shipment of pharmaceutical opioids at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport.
The NDLEA said officers, during a joint examination of three monitored consignments on September 22, recovered 2.55 million pills consisting of Tramaking 225mg, Tramaking 250mg and Royal Tapentadol 250mg.
The consignments reportedly had a combined gross weight of 1,640.55 kilogrammes and were imported from India and Bangladesh through Qatar Airways, RwandAir and Ethiopian Airlines.
The agency also reported an interception in Bauchi State involving 300 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 262.5 kilogrammes.
Two suspects, identified as 35-year-old Umar Hamidu and 45-year-old Abdulkarim Salihu, were arrested along the Maiduguri bypass.
The NDLEA said the cannabis was concealed inside a false-bottom compartment of a truck with registration number MUB757 YH.
In Edo State, NDLEA officers, supported by soldiers, destroyed two cannabis farms at Eko Camp in Ilushi. The agency estimated that the farms had a combined potential yield of 1,360.23 kilogrammes.
The operations also extended to different locations in Lagos.
At Anifowoshe Street in Mushin, NDLEA officers arrested 36-year-old Odumabo Kehinde and 40-year-old Obiekwe Chioma during a raid and recovered 3.4 kilogrammes of skunk.
At Ebute-Ero motor park, the agency said officers intercepted 58-year-old Ugwu Johnson, allegedly carrying 5.92 kilogrammes of skunk, 2,400 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 8,400 nitrazepam tablets and 40,000 tramadol pills.
At the Seme border in Badagry, five men were also arrested in connection with a consignment of nitrous oxide, commonly referred to as laughing gas.
The suspects were identified as Kingsley John, 40; John Chibuike Okeke, 44; Lamidi Ismaila, 40; Babatunde Samuel, 42; and Afeesu Idowu, 47.
The NDLEA said 420 cartons of nitrous oxide weighing 1,688.4 kilogrammes were seized, alongside two vehicles allegedly used to transport the consignment from the border into Lagos.
According to the agency, the series of operations reflects its continuing effort to disrupt domestic and international drug trafficking networks.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended the officers involved in the operations for their efforts and urged them to sustain what he described as the agency’s “balanced approach” to drug control.
The Chairman’s comments came as the agency continued to combine interdiction operations with investigations aimed at identifying wider networks behind the movement of illicit substances.
The arrest of Chukwulobelu also highlights the intersection between international travel and attempts to move controlled substances through Nigeria’s airports.
For the suspect, the alleged attempt to transport cocaine came less than two weeks after his wedding. The NDLEA said he had returned to Nigeria from Portugal and got married on September 13 before allegedly undertaking the journey involving the cocaine.
The agency has not indicated the destination within Portugal to which the alleged consignment was intended to be delivered or identified any person who may have been waiting to receive it.
Such details could emerge as investigations continue.
The case is also expected to proceed through the relevant legal process. Although the NDLEA has announced the arrest and recovery of the alleged cocaine, the allegations against Chukwulobelu remain subject to investigation and, where charges are filed, determination by a competent court.
The agency said its officers would continue to strengthen surveillance and enforcement at international airports and other strategic points in order to prevent Nigeria from being used as a transit route for illicit drugs.
The latest operations, spanning airports, highways, farms, motor parks and international borders, underscore the breadth of the NDLEA’s current enforcement activities.
For Chukwulobelu, the alleged discovery of the 72 cocaine wraps ended his attempt to board the flight to Portugal and resulted in his detention for further investigation.
The NDLEA said investigations into the case would continue as authorities work to establish the circumstances surrounding the alleged drug consignment and determine whether other individuals were involved in the planned trafficking operation.
