Pics-: (L) Lovely with his consignment after he was arrested. (R) Lovely With his bride, during their traditional wedding
A 25-year-old newlywed businessman Lovely Chukwulobelu, has been arrested by the operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested for attempting to smuggle 72 wraps of cocaine to Portugal where he resides.
Lovely was arrested at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, Enough State, where he he ingested the prohibited substance.
The groom was intercepted by NDLEA officers at the departure hall of the Enugu airport, with cocaine in his gut and wedding ring on his finger, while he attempted to board an Ethiopian Airline flight to Portugal via Addis Ababa. He was subsequently placed under excretion observation during which he egested a total of 72 wraps of the Class A illicit drug.
The suspect, according to a statement issued by Femi Babafemi NDLEA’s Director, Media and Advocacy, claimed to be into car decoration business at the Trade Fair Complex, Ojo area of Lagos, before he relocated to Portugal in May 2023, said he returned to Nigeria recently to get married on 13th September 2026.
He said he resorted to the criminal trade to offset expenses incurred during his wedding.
In a related development, NDLEA operatives also uncovered one of the year’s biggest opioid hauls during a joint examination of three monitored consignments, leading to the seizure of two million, five hundred and fifty-five Thousand (2,550,000) pills of Tramaking 225mg, Tramaking 250mg, and Royal Tapentadol 250mg, with a combined gross weight of 1,640.55 kilograms at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja Lagos, on Tuesday September 22, 2026.
The consignments, were imported from India and Bangladesh via Qatar Airways, RwandAir, and Ethiopian Airlines.
Furthermore, in Bauchi, NDLEA operatives arrested two suspects: Umar Hamidu, 35, and Abdulkarim Salihu, 45, along the Maiduguri bypass with 300 compressed blocks of skunk, a strain of cannabis weighing 262.5kg, concealed in the false bottom of a truck marked MUB757 YH, while two cannabis farms with a combined estimated yield of 1,360.23kg at Eko Camp, Ilushi, Edo state were destroyed by NDLEA officers supported by soldiers on Wednesday 23rd September.
Also, in Lagos, two female suspects: Odumabo Kehinde, 36, and Obiekwe Chioma, 40, were arrested on September 26, when NDLEA operatives raided Anifowoshe Street in Mushin where they recovered 3.4kg skunk from them.
In another operation in Lagos same day, NDLEA officers intercepted a 58-year-old man Ugwu Johnson at Ebute-Ero motor park, with large quantities of illicit consignments, including: 5.920kg skunk; 2,400 ampoules of pentazocine injection; 8,400 tablets of nitrazepam; and 40,000 pills of tramadol.
Two Togolese nationals: Yinusa Abdulsamad, 35, and Fatai Baba, 33, were nabbed by NDLEA officers on Saturday 26th September at Iganna-Ilero road, Iganna, Oyo state with 305.6kg of skunk concealed in two pick-up vans used for cross-border trafficking racket, moving Ghanaian-sourced cannabis into Nigeria through the Oyo axis.
At the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, five suspects were arrested with 420 cartons of nitrous oxide popularly called laughing gas weighing 1,688.4kg, along with two vehicles used in conveying the exhibit from the border into Lagos. They include: Kingsley John, 40; John Chibuike Okeke, 44; Lamidi Ismaila, 40; Babatunde Samuel, 42; and Afeesu Idowu, 47.
With the same vigour, Commands and formations of the Agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization activities to schools, worship centres, work places and communities among others in the past week. These include: WADA sensitization lecture to students and staff of Community High School, Saki, Oyo state; Auchi College, Auchi, Edo; Alkali Modibbo Islamic Centre, Dukku, Gombe; and Junior Arabic Secondary School, Kahu, Kibiya LGA, Kano, while the Delta Ports Command of NDLEA paid a WADA advocacy visit to His Royal Majesty, Ogiame Atuwatshe III, the Olu Of Warri, Delta state, among others.
While commending the officers and men of MMIA, AIIA, Lagos, Oyo, Edo, Seme, and Bauchi Commands for the various successful operations, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd) enjoined them and their colleagues across the country to continue with the ongoing balanced approach to the drug control efforts of the Agency.