NDLEA Arrests Two Europe-Bound Nigerians With 200 Cocaine Wraps in Their Stomachs at Abuja Airport

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested two Nigerian businessmen based in Europe after they were allegedly caught attempting to smuggle 200 wraps of cocaine weighing 3.46 kilogrammes to Paris, France, through the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

The suspects, identified as Aliocus Godian Odife and Sam Blackborn, were intercepted on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, during the outward clearance of Air France flight AF832 from Abuja to Paris.

The NDLEA said the two men, who had reportedly travelled to Nigeria for holidays, ingested the cocaine in an attempt to evade security checks before boarding their return flight to Europe.

According to the agency, both suspects were subjected to body scans by operatives at the airport, which revealed foreign objects in their stomachs. 

Odife, who claimed to reside in France and work in a factory, had arrived in Nigeria on October 21 for a short holiday. 

He was arrested while attempting to return to France after a body scan confirmed that he had ingested illicit substances. During interrogation, he reportedly admitted swallowing 110 wraps of cocaine. 

He was subsequently placed under observation and later excreted all 110 wraps, weighing 1.901 kilogrammes.

His co-traveller, Blackborn, was also arrested at the departure hall after his body scan returned a similar positive result. He reportedly confessed to ingesting 90 wraps of cocaine, which he subsequently excreted under observation.

The seized substances weighed 1.559 kilogrammes, bringing the total quantity recovered from the two suspects to 3.460 kilogrammes.

The arrests formed part of a series of anti-drug operations conducted by NDLEA operatives across several states, resulting in the seizure of large consignments of cannabis, controlled pharmaceutical drugs and other illicit substances, as well as the interception of 266 rounds of live AK-47 ammunition.

In a separate operation along the Abuja-Kaduna expressway, NDLEA operatives arrested a woman, Aisha Isah, at the toll gate with 266 rounds of live AK-47 ammunition.

The agency also arrested a 68-year-old man, Ifeanyi Egwolonwu, along the Zaria-Kano expressway at Gwargwaje, Zaria, with 2,770 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 100 ampoules of diazepam injection, 11,000 tablets of diazepam and 4,500 tablets of Exol-5.

In another operation at Tashan Banke, Kaduna State, operatives arrested seven suspects, including Faisal Adamu, and recovered 178.85 kilogrammes of cannabis, alongside quantities of diazepam, tramadol, Exol-5 and pregabalin.

In Lagos, the agency said its operatives intercepted two commercial vehicles conveying a combined 976 kilogrammes of skunk, a potent strain of cannabis.

The first operation, conducted on Sunday, October 25, followed intelligence reports about the movement of the substance from Lagos Island to the mainland.

A white Volkswagen LT 28 bus was intercepted along Kudirat Abiola Way, Ikeja, with 537 kilogrammes of skunk recovered.

On the same day, another team intercepted a brown J5 bus along the Gbagada-Oshodi expressway, recovering an additional 439 kilogrammes of the substance.

In Oyo State, two suspected drug traffickers, Oguntona Nasiru, 46, and Soji Balogun, 47, were arrested on Thursday, October 29, while allegedly loading 554 kilogrammes of skunk into a Volvo truck along Idere Road, Igboora.

The operation was a follow-up to an earlier raid targeting a notorious drug dealer identified as ‘Omo Oba’, who reportedly escaped arrest on October 25 when NDLEA operatives seized 309.5 kilogrammes of a strong cannabis strain known as Ghanaian Loud allegedly linked to him.

In Kano State, operatives recovered 247,500 tablets of diazepam weighing 57.7 kilogrammes and 100,000 tablets of Exol-5 weighing 38.7 kilogrammes during a raid at Tsamiya, Gezawa, on October 26.

Two days later, another operation in Dorayi resulted in the arrest of Ziya’ulhaq Abdullahi, 35, and Garba Muhammed, 52, with 19,250 tablets of tramadol 225mg weighing 13.6 kilogrammes.

Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives in Ondo State raided cannabis farms in Ijare forest on October 25, arresting four suspects, including Bassey Okon, 24; Abraham Edet, 20; and Oto Udo, 24.

The operation led to the recovery of 16 bags of processed cannabis weighing 180 kilogrammes.

In Edo State, operatives, supported by soldiers, raided Eko Camp in Ilushi, Esan South East Local Government Area, on October 28, destroying a cannabis plantation covering 1.646 hectares with an estimated yield of 4,115.53 kilogrammes.

A 50-year-old woman, Christiana Uboi, was arrested at the camp with 301 kilogrammes of processed cannabis, while another 176 kilogrammes was recovered during the operation.

Similarly, in Sokoto State, operatives of the agency’s Zone 7 Command arrested a 68-year-old man, Ibrahim Ayuba, on Saturday, October 31, with 236.6 kilogrammes of skunk following intelligence-led operations.

Beyond the arrests and seizures, the NDLEA said its commands across the country sustained public enlightenment campaigns under its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) initiative.

The sensitisation exercises were conducted in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities, including Obawole Grammar School II, Ojodu, Lagos; Nsukka High School, Enugu State; Government Technical College, Dorayi Babba Rijiyar Zaki, Kano State; and Ajagbe Comprehensive High School, Iperu, Ogun State.

Commenting on the operations, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers and men of the Abuja airport, Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto, Ondo, Oyo and Edo commands for the arrests and seizures.

Marwa described the interception of the two cocaine couriers at the Abuja airport as a warning to Nigerians living abroad who might consider using their overseas residence as cover for international drug trafficking.

He stressed that NDLEA operatives remained vigilant at the country’s entry and exit points, warning that anyone who engaged in drug trafficking, including those who ingested illicit substances for financial rewards, risked their lives and freedom.

He also directed officers across the country to sustain the pressure on drug trafficking networks while intensifying efforts to reduce drug demand through public enlightenment and sensitisation programmes.