NDLEA Nabs Brazil Returnees With 116 Wraps Of Heroin, Cocaine

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested two Brazil returnees, Ofoma Sunday and Ukachukwu Frank Ikechukwu, for trafficking a combined total of 116 wraps of heroin and cocaine at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

The suspects were placed under observatory custody, where they later excreted the illicit drugs.

According to a statement released on Sunday by the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, 46-year-old Ofoma was apprehended on September 16, 2025, at Terminal 2 of the Lagos Airport after arriving from Laos, Brazil via an Ethiopian Airlines flight. A body scan revealed he had ingested illicit drugs.

Investigations showed that Ofoma had departed Nigeria for Brazil on September 3 to courier the consignment to Lagos, with a promised payment of $2,500 upon successful delivery. A follow-up operation led NDLEA operatives to Eliata Hotel in Amuwo Odofin, where Ofoma was instructed to meet one Nweke Jude Chuckwudi, 55, designated to supervise the excretion and retrieval of the drugs. Nweke was subsequently arrested. Ofoma eventually excreted 111 wraps of heroin weighing 1.452 kilograms in eight batches.

In a similar incident, another returnee, Ukachukwu Frank Ikechukwu, was intercepted during the inward clearance of Ethiopian Airlines passengers from Brazil via Addis Ababa on September 19. A body scan confirmed the presence of illicit substances. Under observatory monitoring, he excreted five large wraps of cocaine weighing 145 grams.

The 45-year-old suspect confessed that he had purchased nine wraps of cocaine in Brazil and inserted them into his anus, a process he said took nearly two hours. However, during a transit stop in Addis Ababa, he experienced severe pain and removed the wraps. In a bid to catch his connecting flight, he managed to reinsert only seven wraps, flushing two down the toilet. While aboard his flight to Nigeria, he expelled two wraps in the lavatory, leaving five still inserted.

Ukachukwu further disclosed that he had previously been involved in the clothing business before relocating to Brazil in 2017. In 2020, he moved to the United States, where he was arrested for immigration-related offences, detained for over a year, and later deported to Nigeria in 2022. He returned to Brazil in March 2025 and was residing there with a valid residence permit before his arrest.

Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives also arrested a businesswoman, Okolonkwo Ebere Theresa, on September 14, 2025, at Terminal 2 of Lagos Airport. She was intercepted by Aviation Security officers of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) in collaboration with NDLEA personnel while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to Doha, Qatar. Concealed in her butt pad underwear were two parcels of methamphetamine weighing 1.40 kilograms.

At the NAHCO export shed of the Lagos airport, NDLEA officers, on September 15, intercepted a consignment of food items destined for Hong Kong via Turkish Airlines. Concealed within the items were 40 wraps of methamphetamine with a total weight of 2.30 kilograms. A 59-year-old suspect, Umelo Ifeanyi Venatus, who presented the shipment as part of a consolidated cargo, was arrested.

Similarly, another consignment of illicit drugs packaged for export to Europe was intercepted on September 18 at a courier company in Lagos. A detailed examination revealed seven phone chargers containing 257 grams of cocaine destined for New Zealand.

In Adamawa State, operatives conducted three separate raids leading to the recovery of 233,800 tramadol pills and the arrest of two suspects. On September 17, 195,600 pills were discovered in an abandoned Toyota Sienna vehicle in Mayo Belwa, Yola South. On the same day, a suspect identified as Rita Zira was apprehended in Jambutu, Jimeta Yola, where 27,900 pills were found in her bedroom. Another suspect, Halilu Abubakar, was arrested at Namtari checkpoint, Yola, with 10,300 pills.

In Zamfara State, operatives supported by members of the Community Protection Guards (CPG) seized 109 bags of skunk weighing 1,099.4 kilograms from a Mitsubishi Canter truck marked LRN 568XB. The truck, driven by suspect Hammed Danladi Aliyu, was intercepted along Gummi-Daki Takwas road while en route to Company village in Gummi LGA.

Elsewhere, NDLEA officers arrested two suspects, Babangida Usman and Ismail Ibrahim, with 14,000 capsules of tramadol along Damaturu-Potiskum road in Yobe State. In Taraba State, a suspect, Anas Hamisu, was nabbed with three sacks of skunk weighing 25.525 kilograms at Garba-Chede, Bali LGA, on September 17.

In Edo State, operatives destroyed two cannabis farms covering 4.532 hectares in Atororo forest, Owan West LGA, with an estimated yield of 11,330.0625 kilograms. During the operation on September 17, NDLEA also recovered 11 bags of processed skunk and seeds weighing 148 kilograms. Three suspects, identified as Mathew Onoja, Moses Thomas Male, and Friday Uchenjin, were arrested at the site.

Reacting to the series of arrests and seizures, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), said:

“These arrests and seizures represent a significant milestone in our determined effort to dismantle drug trafficking organizations operating in Nigeria and around the world, prioritizing those bent on targeting our productive youth population with illicit substances until they’re no longer able to inflict harm on our communities or misrepresent our country’s image in the global space.”

Source: Informationng