A 62-year-old Lagos-based businessman, Nwabueze Nicholas Izueke, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency for attempting to smuggle cocaine to China by ingesting the illicit substance.
Izueke was intercepted on January 31, 2026, during the outward clearance of Ethiopian Airlines flight ET940 at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano.
A body scan conducted on him revealed the presence of foreign objects in his system, leading to his placement under medical observation.
In a statement on Sunday, the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said the suspect excreted 95 pellets of cocaine weighing a total of 1.589 kilogrammes over seven rounds of excretion.
Babafemi said Izueke, who claimed to trade in clothing and auto spare parts in Lagos, confessed that he resorted to drug trafficking in a bid to raise money to complete a building project in his hometown of Iwollo, Enugu State.
“The suspect admitted swallowing the drugs for onward delivery to China, claiming he needed the money to finish his country home,” the NDLEA spokesman stated.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives in Oyo State have dismantled a synthetic cannabis production facility in the Badeku area of Ibadan, arresting a 40-year-old suspected drug kingpin, Jimoh Nurudeen, and his accomplice, Ogundipe Yusuf, 27.
Items recovered from the site included eight litres of precursor chemicals, drug production equipment and cash amounting to ₦7,408,400, while two luxury vehicles — a Mercedes-Benz SUV and a Toyota Highlander were seized as proceeds of crime.
The agency described Nurudeen as a major supplier of synthetic drugs within the Ibadan axis, adding that the factory was used for the production of “Colorado”, a highly potent synthetic cannabis.
In a related operation, operatives of the agency’s Marine Command on Friday, February 6, intercepted one Eze Nodebechi Austin at Yekeme in Badagry, Lagos State, shortly after his arrival from Côte d’Ivoire.
A search of his belongings, according to the NDLEA, led to the recovery of 31 wraps of cocaine concealed inside a handbag.
The agency reaffirmed its commitment to intensifying the war against illicit drug production, trafficking and abuse across the country.
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