By Oluwakemi Kindness
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 41-year-old Brazil-based businessman, Abugu Oliver-Ikechukwu, for attempting to smuggle 6.10 kilograms of liquid cocaine concealed in shirts and towels into Nigeria.
The agency said the suspect was intercepted at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, on Thursday, June 11, 2026, shortly after arriving from São Paulo, Brazil, via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
According to Mohammed Buba-Marwa, Chairman of the NDLEA, in a statement on Sunday by Femi Babafemi, Director, media and advocay, a search of his luggage reveals 14 shirts and towels soaked in liquid cocaine, dried, and carefully ironed to evade detection.
In his statement, Abugu claimed he had lived in Brazil for over 14 years, where he runs an African restaurant, adding that he returned to Nigeria to visit his wife and purchase food items in bulk for his business.
Meanwhile, the agency also arrested a 60-year-old woman, Chidimma Sunday, and a 28-year-old man, Abubakar Usman, both persons living with disabilities (PWDs), for alleged involvement in illicit drug trafficking in Abia and Rivers States respectively.
Chidimma was apprehended in Umuna Autonomous Community, Isialangwa North LGA of Abia State, with 1.8kg of skunk, while Abubakar was arrested in Rumuokoro, Port Harcourt, with multiple illicit substances including methamphetamine, tramadol, diazepam, and other psychotropic drugs.
The NDLEA said coordinated operations across the country also led to major seizures in Delta, Gombe, Kano, Kwara, Lagos, Taraba, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
In Delta State, operatives arrested a suspect, Onya Jude, with 2.8kg of Loud cannabis concealed in gas cylinders, while in Gombe, two suspected drug dealers were caught with 2.738kg of skunk.
In Kano, another suspect was arrested with 6,000 pills of tramadol, while in Kwara, operatives intercepted 304kg of skunk being transported in a Toyota Jeep along the Bode Saadu axis.
In the FCT, NDLEA officers arrested two suspects with large quantities of tramadol, pregabalin, ecstasy (molly), and codeine-based syrup, while in Lagos, a massive 1,102kg consignment of Ghana Loud cannabis was recovered around Alaba International Market.
Similarly, in Taraba State, operatives raided a warehouse belonging to a suspected drug trafficker, recovering 63 jumbo bags of cannabis weighing over 1,121 kilograms.
The NDLEA also said it intensified its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) se6nsitisation campaign across schools, worship centres, and communities nationwide as part of its demand-reduction strategy.
Marwa, commended officers across the affected commands for the arrests and seizures, urging them to sustain the agency’s nationwide crackdown on drug trafficking networks.
