Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested two Europe-based Nigerian businessmen for allegedly 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, reportedly ingested the cocaine before attempting to board an Air France flight from Abuja to Paris.
The NDLEA disclosed the arrests in a statement issued on Sunday by its Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi.
According to the agency, the suspects were intercepted on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, during the outward clearance of passengers on Air France flight AF 832.
Odife, who reportedly resides in France and works in a factory, arrived in Nigeria on October 21 for a short holiday. He was arrested while preparing to return to France after a body scan conducted by NDLEA operatives indicated the presence of foreign objects in his stomach.
During interrogation, he allegedly admitted to ingesting 110 pellets of cocaine. He was subsequently placed under observation and excreted all 110 wraps, weighing 1.901 kilogrammes.
His co-traveller, Blackborn, was also arrested at the departure hall after a body scan indicated that he had ingested illicit substances.
The agency said Blackborn confessed to swallowing 90 pellets of cocaine and later excreted all of them under observation. The recovered consignment weighed 1.559 kilogrammes.
In separate operations across the country, NDLEA operatives also recorded major drug seizures and arrested several suspects.
In Lagos, officers intercepted two commercial vehicles conveying a combined 976 kilogrammes of skunk, a potent strain of cannabis.
The first seizure occurred on Sunday, October 25, along Kudirat Abiola Way, Ikeja, where 537 kilogrammes of the substance were recovered from a white Volkswagen LT 28 bus.
Another 439 kilogrammes were seized the same day from a brown J5 bus intercepted along the Gbagada-Oshodi Expressway.
In Oyo State, two suspects, Oguntona Nasiru, 46, and Soji Balogun, 47, were arrested on October 29 while allegedly loading 554 kilogrammes of skunk into a Volvo truck along Idere Road in Igboora.
The operation followed an earlier raid targeting a suspected drug dealer identified as Omo Oba, who reportedly escaped arrest on October 25 after NDLEA operatives seized 309.5 kilogrammes of Ghanaian Loud allegedly linked to him.
In Kano State, officers raided a location in the Tsamiya area of Gezawa on October 26 and recovered 247,500 tablets of diazepam weighing 57.7 kilogrammes, alongside 100,000 tablets of Exol-5 weighing 38.7 kilogrammes.
Two other suspects, Ziya’ulhaq Abdullahi, 35, and Garba Muhammed, 52, were arrested in the Dorayi area on October 28 with 19,250 pills of tramadol 225mg weighing 13.6 kilogrammes.
The agency also reported the arrest of a woman, Aisha Isah, along the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway with 266 rounds of live AK-47 ammunition.
In another operation, a 68-year-old man, Ifeanyi Egwolonwu, was arrested at Gwargwaje, Zaria, along the Zaria-Kano Expressway. Officers allegedly recovered 2,770 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 100 ampoules of diazepam injection, 11,000 tablets of diazepam and 4,500 tablets of Exol-5 from him.
In a separate raid in Kano’s Tashan Banke area, seven suspects were arrested, including Faisal Adamu. The operatives recovered 178.85 kilogrammes of cannabis, alongside quantities of diazepam, tramadol, Exol-5 and pregabalin.
In Ondo State, four suspects were arrested during a raid on cannabis farms in Ijare Forest on October 25. The operation led to the recovery of 16 bags of processed cannabis weighing 180 kilogrammes.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives, supported by soldiers, raided Eko Camp in Ilushi, Esan South-East Local Government Area of Edo State, on October 28. They destroyed 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 were recovered during the operation.
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.
Reacting to the arrests and seizures, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers of the agency’s commands in Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto, Ondo, Oyo and Edo states.
Marwa described the arrest of the two cocaine couriers at Abuja airport as a warning to Nigerians living abroad who believe their foreign residence could shield them from drug trafficking investigations.
He said operatives at the country’s entry and exit points remained vigilant, warning that anyone who risked their lives and freedom by ingesting illicit drugs for financial gain would face the consequences.
The NDLEA chairman urged officers to sustain the fight against drug trafficking networks while intensifying public awareness campaigns aimed at reducing drug demand across the country.
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