The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled several drug trafficking operations across Nigeria, arresting key suspects including a former international footballer and businessmen involved in international drug smuggling.
Among those apprehended was 55-year-old Segun George Hunkarin, a former professional football player with a history of playing in Brazil, who was arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, alongside a suspected accomplice, Ntoruka Emmanuel Chinedu.
The arrest followed the interception of 37 wraps of cocaine weighing 800 grams found hidden in Chinedu’s carry-on luggage on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. Chinedu, a known frequent flyer who trades between Nigeria and Turkey, reportedly picked up the consignment during a transit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Hunkarin was reportedly waiting at the airport car park to collect the illegal drugs. During interrogation, he admitted to previously trafficking drugs from Brazil to Ethiopia but claimed this was his first attempt to receive a consignment in Nigeria.
In a related incident, NDLEA operatives at the Lagos airport also arrested a Europe-based businessman, Amen Okoro Godstime, on Friday, June 27, as he attempted to smuggle 5,000 tablets of 225mg tramadol disguised as malaria medications like Lonart, Amatem, and Aluktem.
The suspect was intercepted during passenger clearance for a Royal Air Maroc flight to Spain. He confessed that he intended to transport the drugs to France and eventually ship them to Italy for retail distribution.
Simultaneously, NDLEA agents at Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, intercepted two passengers on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Johannesburg.
One of them, Ezenwaka Chibuzor Emmanuel, a bar attendant based in Maputo, Mozambique, was caught with 17 cardboard-sized parcels of methamphetamine weighing 17.5 kilograms and three parcels of cocaine weighing 3.05 kilograms. The drugs were concealed in bedsheets packed in his luggage.
Another suspect from the same flight, 54-year-old Azu Follygan Kpodar, arriving from Sao Paulo, Brazil, was found with a plastic container of liquid soap that tested positive for cocaine.
The liquid drug weighed 1.25 kilograms. Azu, a toy seller in Brazil, claimed he bought the substance while shopping for his upcoming wedding in Nigeria.
In yet another operation on June 24, NDLEA officers intercepted a 26-year-old Beninese national, Vode Jean-Luck, at the Seme border, Badagry, Lagos, while attempting to smuggle 69 balls of skunk (a potent form of cannabis) weighing 29.5 kilograms into Nigeria.
In Kwara State, a notorious female drug dealer identified as Mary Bolanle Oladele, also known as “Iya Nafi”, was arrested in Omu-Aran, Irepodun Local Government Area.
Various quantities of illicit drugs including skunk, tramadol, and flunitrazepam were recovered from her premises during a raid on Wednesday, June 25.
Meanwhile, in Warri, Delta State, a 72-year-old woman, Mrs. Christy Ejaro, was apprehended at Niger CAT area on June 24. Several sachets of skunk packaged for retail distribution were found in her possession.
The agency also intensified its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign across the country with sensitization lectures delivered in primary and secondary schools located in Katsina, Oyo, Abia, Enugu, Bayelsa, and Ekiti States.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the efforts of the operatives at MMIA, AIIA, Delta, Kwara, and Seme Commands.
He also praised other officers nationwide for maintaining a balance between supply reduction and demand reduction strategies in the ongoing fight against drug abuse and trafficking.
