NDLEA nabs ex-footballer, foreign-based suspects in nationwide drug busts

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has made a string of high-profile arrests in a nationwide anti-narcotics crackdown, including a former international football player, a Europe-based businessman, and multiple suspected traffickers at key Nigerian airports and borders.

The operations led to the seizure of 22.6 kilograms of cocaine and methamphetamine, along with other illicit substances.

In a statement on Sunday, NDLEA confirmed the arrest of Segun George Hunkarin, a former professional footballer, and Ntoruka Emmanuel Chinedu at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.

The suspects were apprehended following the interception of 37 wraps of cocaine (weighing 800 grams) found in Chinedu’s carry-on luggage. Chinedu had reportedly collected the drugs while transiting through Addis Ababa on his return from Turkey aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight.

Hunkarin, who allegedly played football in Brazil for several years, was arrested in the airport car park while waiting to receive the consignment.

During interrogation, he admitted to past involvement in drug trafficking between Brazil and Ethiopia but claimed this was his first involvement in Nigeria.

“Further investigations confirmed that Hunkarin was the receiver of the drug consignment,” NDLEA stated. “He has confessed to trafficking narcotics twice in the past while in Brazil.”

In a separate development, NDLEA operatives at the MMIA arrested Amen Okoro Godstime, a Europe-based freight and logistics operator, on June 27.

Okoro was caught attempting to smuggle 5,000 pills of Tramadol 225mg concealed inside malaria medication boxes labelled Lonart, Amatem, and Aluktem.

He claimed he intended to move the consignment from Spain to France, where he resides, before onward shipment to Italy for sale.

At the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, NDLEA officials arrested two passengers arriving on an Ethiopian Airlines flight in separate drug trafficking incidents:

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Ezenwaka Chibuzor Emmanuel, a bar attendant from Mozambique, was found with 17 parcels of methamphetamine (17.5kg) and three parcels of cocaine (3.05kg) hidden inside bedsheets.

Azu Follygan Kpodar, a 54-year-old toy seller from São Paulo, Brazil, attempted to smuggle 1.25kg of liquid cocaine concealed in a liquid soap container branded “YPE.” The substance was later confirmed as cocaine after testing at NDLEA’s Enugu forensic lab. Kpodar claimed he purchased the drug while shopping for his wedding in Nigeria.

In another operation at the Seme border, Badagry, Lagos, 26-year-old Beninese national, Vode Jean-Luck, was intercepted while attempting to traffic 69 balls of skunk (cannabis) weighing 29.5kg into Nigeria from the Benin Republic.

In Kwara State, notorious drug dealer Mary Bolanle Oladele, also known as Iya Nafi, was arrested in Omu-Aran, Irepodun LGA. NDLEA officers recovered quantities of skunk, tramadol, and flunitrazepam from her residence during a raid.

Meanwhile, in Warri, Delta State, a 72-year-old grandmother, Mrs. Christy Ejaro, was arrested on June 24 in the Niger CAT area.

She was caught with several sachets of skunk packaged in retail-ready sizes, highlighting the growing involvement of elderly persons in the local drug trade.

The NDLEA reiterated its commitment to intensifying surveillance and operations across air, land, and sea entry points to disrupt drug trafficking networks nationwide.