NDLEA intercepts hard drugs concealed in carton walls, winter jackets, and cream at Lagos airport
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The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has foiled the plans of Drug Trafficking Organisations (DTOs) to smuggle consignments of illicit drugs, including methamphetamine and opioids, into European countries, after operatives intercepted the items concealed in innovative hiding spots at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport and a courier service in Lagos.
Two of the consignments heading to Italy were to be moved through the Lagos airport where two suspects linked to the shipments were promptly arrested. One of them, 37-year-old Friday Ehianuka was going to Rome, Italy on Friday 20th March 2026 when he was intercepted while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight with 2,698 pills of tramadol 225mg concealed in containers of skin light body cream, all packed in the suspect’s luggage.
In his statement, Ehianuka who is a resident of Milan, confirmed that he was to be paid a negotiated fee in Euros if he had succeeded in trafficking the consignment to Italy.
In another drug bust, NDLEA operatives at the departure hall of the Lagos airport on Wednesday 18th March intercepted a passenger Christian Agbonhese, who was attempting to board a Lufthansa Airlines flight to Milan, Italy. Upon a thorough search of his luggage, no fewer than 23,150 pills of tramadol 225mg; 4,000 tablets of tapentadol 250mg and 1,320 pills of tramadol 100mg, all concealed in two large winter jackets, bringing the total number of opioids recovered from him to 28,470 pills. The 38-year-old Agbonhese is also a resident of Milan.
At a courier firm in Lagos, NDLEA officers on Monday 16th March intercepted two parcels of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis weighing 1kg, hidden in a carton shipped to Lagos from the United States. Also thwarted was an attempt to export 158 grams of methamphetamine concealed in the walls of a carton to New Zealand.
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), commended the officers and men of various Commands for their commendable efforts in making the arrests and seizures, and urged them and their colleagues nationwide to sustain the balanced approach to the Agency’s drug control initiatives.
