Portugal-bound groom excretes 72 cocaine wraps at Enugu airport
A 25-year-old newlywed businessman, Lovely Chukwulobelu, has been arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, for allegedly attempting to traffic 72 wraps of cocaine to Portugal.
Chukwulobelu was intercepted at the airport’s departure hall on Thursday, September 25, 2026, while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Portugal via Addis Ababa, after NDLEA operatives detected that he had ingested the illicit drug.
The agency said the suspect was placed under excretion observation and subsequently egested all 72 wraps of cocaine, adding that he claimed he became involved in the criminal trade to offset expenses incurred during his wedding on September 13.
According to the NDLEA, Chukwulobelu, who resides in Portugal, said he previously operated a car decoration business at the Trade Fair Complex in the Ojo area of Lagos before relocating to the country in May 2023 and returning to Nigeria recently to get married.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, have seized 2.55 million pills of Tramaking 225mg, Tramaking 250mg and Royal Tapentadol 250mg, weighing 1,640.55kg, in one of the agency’s biggest opioid seizures of the year.
The agency said the seizure was made on Tuesday, September 22, during a joint examination of three monitored consignments imported from India and Bangladesh through Qatar Airways, RwandAir and Ethiopian Airlines, while its operatives in Bauchi also arrested Umar Hamidu, 35, and Abdulkarim Salihu, 45, with 300 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 262.5kg.
In other operations, NDLEA officers destroyed two cannabis farms with an estimated yield of 1,360.23kg in Eko Camp, Ilushi, Edo State, arrested two women with 3.4kg of skunk in Mushin, Lagos, and intercepted Ugwu Johnson, 58, at Ebute-Ero motor park with 5.920kg of skunk, 2,400 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 8,400 tablets of nitrazepam and 40,000 pills of tramadol.
The agency also arrested two Togolese nationals, Yinusa Abdulsamad, 35, and Fatai Baba, 33, with 305.6kg of skunk along the Iganna-Ilero Road in Oyo State, while five suspects were arrested at the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, with 420 cartons of nitrous oxide weighing 1,688.4kg, as NDLEA commands nationwide continued War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities.
