Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a Brazil-based Nigerian businessman, Uche Franklin Onyekwere, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, for attempting to smuggle cocaine into the country.
Onyekwere, 47, was apprehended on Thursday, January 29, 2026, at the airport’s arrival hall during the inward clearance of passengers on a South African Airways flight arriving from Brazil via Johannesburg. The arrest followed processed intelligence that flagged the suspect for close scrutiny.
A body scan conducted on Onyekwere confirmed the presence of concealed illicit substances. He was subsequently subjected to a search, during which a large wrap of a white powdery substance, later confirmed to be cocaine, was discovered strapped to his right thigh.
Further checks also uncovered two additional wraps of the same substance hidden inside the soles of his footwear. In total, three large wraps of cocaine weighing 1.60 kilograms were recovered from the suspect.
During a preliminary interview, Onyekwere disclosed that he purchased the cocaine in Brazil with the intention of reselling it in Nigeria to raise capital to expand his business and support the naming ceremony of his newborn child.
He stated that he has lived in São Paulo, Brazil, since 2008 and has operated a toy business for about nine years. He also provided his address as Rua Ever, Mulariuha, São Paulo.
In a separate operation at the Tincan Seaport in Lagos, NDLEA officers, in collaboration with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies, intercepted a container shipment on Wednesday, January 28.
The joint examination led to the discovery of 55 jumbo bags of “Canadian Loud,” a potent strain of cannabis, with a total weight of 1,183 kilograms. The illicit drugs, imported from Montreal, Canada, were concealed inside two vehicles—a Hyundai SUV and a Toyota Matrix—packed within the container.
Meanwhile, in Niger State, NDLEA operatives acting on credible intelligence intercepted a long truck marked T 31589 LA along the Dei-Dei–Abuja Expressway in the early hours of Tuesday, January 26. Three suspects—Andy Chidogu, 49; Kenneth Ogene, 45; and Sadiq Olanrewaju, 27—were arrested for transporting 176 bags of skunk, a cannabis strain weighing 2,735 kilograms, as well as one kilogram of Colorado, a synthetic cannabis, hidden in the truck.
Investigations revealed that the driver, Kenneth Ogene, had departed Lagos on January 23 with 800 bags of flour to Ekpoma, Edo State. After offloading the flour, he allegedly negotiated to convey the illicit drugs for a fee of N1.7 million.
In Anambra State, NDLEA officers on Wednesday, January 28, intercepted a cement truck at Upper Iweka, Onitsha, en route to Nkpor. A search of the trailer revealed 345.2 kilograms of skunk concealed beneath bags of cement. One of the truck’s occupants, Abum Okeke, 42, was identified as the owner of the illicit consignment.
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In Ondo State, two suspects—Tunde Ogundele, 39, and Soji Elegbelye, 46—were arrested on Monday, January 26, at Eleyewo community in Akure North Local Government Area in connection with the seizure of 473 kilograms of skunk.
On the same day in Kano State, NDLEA operatives arrested Abdullahi Usman, 45, along Murtala Mohammed Way with 12,500 ampoules of pentazocine injection. Another suspect, Musa Shuaibu, 42, was arrested on Tuesday, January 27, in the Gaya area of Kano with 4,390 pills of tramadol.
Additional arrests included Oragwan Ekene, who was apprehended on Friday, January 30, at Okeyson Park, Alaba, Lagos, with 15.5 kilograms of skunk reportedly bound for Onitsha, Anambra State.
At the Seme Border in Badagry, Lagos, NDLEA officers on Tuesday, January 27, recovered 3.5 kilograms of skunk concealed inside a sound system and cereal packs from the luggage of Omang Peter Edward, who was arriving from Cotonou, Benin Republic.
Commending officers of the MMIA, Tincan, Niger, Lagos, Edo, Anambra, Ondo and Kano Commands for their professionalism and operational successes, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), urged them and their colleagues nationwide to sustain the agency’s balanced strategy of drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction.