The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a 28-year-old American professional basketball player and a 56-year-old suspected trafficker in separate operations at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, seizing large consignments of illicit drugs.
The agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.
Babafemi said operatives intercepted a 25.05-kilogramme consignment of methamphetamine concealed in packs of assorted breakfast cereals imported from South Africa. The suspect, a 56-year-old man who had lived in South Africa for over two decades under a stolen identity, was arrested on Wednesday at the arrival hall of Terminal II of the Lagos airport upon his return from South Africa.
“A thorough search of his two travelling boxes led to the recovery of twenty-five parcels of a white crystalline substance, which tested positive for methamphetamine with a total weight of 25.05kg,” Babafemi said.
“The parcels had been carefully concealed inside packs of assorted breakfast cereals and cereal-based food products in a bid to beat security screening.”
The suspect holds both Nigerian and South African passports and has been resident in South Africa for over 24 years. During preliminary interview, he confessed that he adopted a fake Nigerian name after using forged documents to gain entry into South Africa and had continued to use that identity ever since.
“He further stated that he was contracted by a South Africa-based man to deliver the illicit consignment in Nigeria for a fee of R20,000,” Babafemi said.
In a separate operation at the same airport, NDLEA operatives arrested the American basketball player over a 33.95-kilogramme shipment of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, from Thailand.
Babafemi said that on Wednesday, acting on credible intelligence, operatives at the MMIA intercepted the 28-year-old American citizen who arrived in Lagos aboard an Emirates Airline flight from Thailand via Dubai.
The suspect, who was placed under discreet surveillance upon arrival, was observed abandoning his two checked-in bags before attempting to exit the airport with only his carry-on luggage. He was promptly apprehended at the airport car park.
“A search of the two abandoned bags, both bearing his name tag, revealed sixteen parcels of Loud in each, totalling thirty-two parcels with a combined weight of 33.95 kilograms,” Babafemi said.
“A tracking device was also recovered from the bags.”
The suspect, a native of Savannah, Georgia, claimed he has lived in Thailand since October 2025 where he plays professional basketball. He said he came to Nigeria on holiday to build networks for his basketball career.
“A forensic examination of his mobile phone revealed information pointing to his knowledge of and involvement in the drug trafficking activity,” Babafemi said.
