The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested two suspected drug traffickers at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, and Port Harcourt International Airport.
The suspects reportedly excreted a total of 125 wraps of heroin.
NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, confirmed the arrests in a statement issued on Sunday. He revealed that one of the suspects, Onyekwonike Elochuckwu Sylvanus, 30, operates under dual identities to avoid detection.
Sylvanus was arrested on February 2, 2025, at Port Harcourt International Airport while trying to enter Nigeria on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha via Abuja. He was caught using a Sierra Leonean passport with the name Kargbo Mohamed Foday.
“A body scan confirmed he had ingested illicit drugs, and under observation, he excreted 62 wraps of heroin weighing 1.348 kilograms in five sessions,” Babafemi stated.
Further investigation showed that Sylvanus alternated between his Nigerian and Sierra Leonean passports to traffic drugs across Thailand, Pakistan, Iran, and West Africa. He reportedly admitted that he went into drug trafficking full-time in 2017 after his clothing and shoe business collapsed.
The second suspect, James Chinoso, 48, was arrested on February 1, 2025, at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. He had arrived from Madagascar via Ethiopia on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
“A body scan confirmed he had illicit drugs in his system. Under observation, he excreted 63 wraps of heroin weighing 909 grams,” Babafemi said.
Chinoso reportedly left Lagos for Madagascar on January 26, 2025, and returned a week later. He claimed he turned to drug trafficking after his phone accessories business in Liberia collapsed.
In another operation on February 6, NDLEA operatives from the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation intercepted 2.82 kilograms of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, smuggled from the United States and destined for Lagos.
That same day, officials uncovered 80 ampoules of pentazocine injection (225 grams) hidden in cartons and meant to be shipped to Canada through a logistics firm in Lagos.
In Kano, NDLEA operatives arrested Usaini Salisu and Yahaya Mu’azu, both 23, on February 3 at Gadar Tamburawa along Zaria Road. They were found with 15,396 tramadol pills hidden inside a gas cylinder.
A separate operation in Sabon Gari, Kano, led to the arrest of Chioma Okeke, 35, who was caught with 27 blocks of skunk, weighing 15 kilograms.
On February 8, NDLEA officers intercepted 12,800 tramadol 250mg pills along the Kabba-Obajana Highway in Kogi State, arresting a suspect identified as Salisu Basiru, 33.
That same day, 65 parcels of Colorado, a synthetic cannabis strain weighing 1.6 kilograms, were recovered from Rufai Hassan, 32, at a checkpoint. The drugs were reportedly headed for Jigawa State.
The NDLEA vowed to continue its crackdown on drug syndicates across the country to curb drug trafficking and abuse.
