Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have arrested an Ivorian and a Nigerian medical doctor over their alleged involvement in cocaine trafficking, the agency has said.
The Ivorian suspect, Gohouri Michael, 41, was apprehended at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport during the outward clearance of passengers on an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Milan, Italy, via Addis Ababa.
According to a statement on Sunday by NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi, Gohouri was found to have ingested 82 wraps of cocaine, weighing 1.49 kilograms.
“Gohouri had arrived in Lagos from Milan, Italy, on January 17, 2026, and was shuttling between Lagos and Enugu for three weeks. He later travelled to Kano, where he stayed for a week before ingesting the cocaine consignment in his hotel room,” the statement read.
“He is expected to be paid 5,000 euros when he delivers the drugs in Milan.”
Further intelligence uncovered a suspected coordinator behind the operation, leading to the arrest of a 69-year-old medical doctor, Dr Chudi Ofomata, in Ogun State. NDLEA operatives tracked the doctor to his residence in Magboro, Obafemi Owode Local Government Area, where he was arrested on March 27, 2026, and later flown to Kano.
Recovered from him at the point of arrest were 63 grams of promazepam and seven ampoules of promethazine injection.
In other operations, the NDLEA in Abia State arrested a 93-year-old man, Pa Friday Ahukanna Chigbu, at his residence in Osisioma Local Government Area, where 7.7 kilograms of skunk were recovered. The suspect claimed he had been smoking skunk since 1959 before turning it into a business.
In Ogun State, three suspects were arrested with 34 kilograms of skunk, while in Imo State, a 26-year-old woman was apprehended with 56.2 kilograms of the same substance.
In Niger State, a couple was arrested after 118 kilograms of skunk were recovered from their kitchen. In Lagos, operatives intercepted a luxury bus and recovered 15 kilograms of skunk, while another operation led to the seizure of 26,800 bottles of codeine-based syrup.
