The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a 59-year-old businessman, Chijioke Nnanna Igbokwe, and recovered 81 pellets of cocaine from his stomach after a medical surgery.
According to a statement by NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, Igbokwe was arrested at the arrival hall of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on Sunday, January 26, 2025. He was on an Ethiopian Airlines flight and was taken for a body scan, which showed he had drugs in his system.
Investigations revealed that Igbokwe, who claims to be a cloth trader at Arena, Oshodi, Lagos, traveled to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on January 22. The next day, he swallowed 81 wraps of cocaine and then flew to Beirut, Lebanon, to deliver the drugs for a fee of $3,000.
However, he was denied entry into Beirut because he had less than $2,000, the amount required for entry into Lebanon. He was deported back to Addis Ababa, where he tried to excrete the drugs but failed.
On January 25, he returned to Lagos with the drugs still in his body. NDLEA officers arrested him at the airport the next day.
After five days in NDLEA custody, Igbokwe was only able to pass out 24 pellets. Due to complications and other medical conditions, he was taken to Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, where doctors performed an exploratory laparotomy surgery on January 30 to remove the remaining 57 wraps of cocaine.
Babafemi confirmed that NDLEA recovered a total of 81 pellets of cocaine, weighing 1.943 kilograms, from Igbokwe’s body.
In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives intercepted a 2,000-kilogram consignment of Ghanaian Loud, a strong type of cannabis, at Lekki beach. Two suspects, Sunday Awoyede and Christopher Cletus, were arrested while trying to load the drugs into a truck.
Another suspect, Lawal Idris Olasunkanmi, was also arrested the same day with 55 kilograms of skunk in the Mushin area of Lagos.
NDLEA has urged the public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious drug-related activities.
