NDLEA Arrests Ex-Footballer, Four Others Over 22.6kg Cocaine Smuggling at Lagos Airport

NDLEA Arrests Ex-Footballer, Four Others Over 22.6kg Cocaine Smuggling at Lagos Airport

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a former international footballer, Segun George Hunkarin and his business associate, Ntoruka Emmanuel Chinedu, over an attempt to smuggle cocaine into Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos.

NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed the arrests in a statement on Sunday, revealing that Chinedu was nabbed first upon arrival at the airport from Turkey via Ethiopian Airlines.

“A search of the suspect’s carry-on bag revealed 37 wraps of cocaine weighing 800 grams concealed within,” Babafemi said.

Further investigation revealed that Chinedu picked up the drugs in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, before heading to Nigeria. His accomplice, Hunkarin, a former professional player who once plied his trade in Brazil, was arrested at the airport car park while waiting to collect the consignment.

“In his statement, Hunkarin claimed that while playing professional football in the South American country, he had only trafficked drugs twice from Brazil to Ethiopia but has never brought any to Nigeria,” Babafemi added.

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In a separate operation at the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives on Friday intercepted Amen Okoro Godstime, a Europe-based businessman attempting to smuggle 5,000 pills of Tramadol 225mg disguised as malaria medications to Spain via Royal Air Maroc.

At the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA) in Enugu, the agency arrested Ezenwaka Chibuzor Emmanuel, a Maputo-based bar attendant, who was found with 17.5kg of methamphetamine and 3.05kg of cocaine hidden in bed sheets.

Another passenger on the same Ethiopian Airlines flight, Azu Follygan Kpodar, arriving from Brazil, was caught with 1.25kg of liquid cocaine disguised in a plastic soap container. The substance tested positive at the NDLEA forensic lab.

The agency also made significant seizures elsewhere:

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At the Seme border, a 26-year-old Beninese national, Vode Jean-Luck, was intercepted with 29.5kg of cannabis (skunk) in 69 balls smuggled from the Benin Republic.

In Kwara State, notorious drug dealer Mary Bolanle Oladele, aka Iya Nafi, was arrested in Omu-Aran, Irepodun LGA, with quantities of skunk, Tramadol, and Flunitrazepam.

In Delta State, a 72-year-old grandmother, Mrs. Christy Ejaro, was arrested in the Niger CAT area of Warri with sachets of skunk packed for retail sale.

NDLEA Chairman and CEO, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the efforts of officers across MMIA, AIIA, Delta, Kwara, and Seme Commands for their vigilance and operational excellence.

He urged continued public cooperation in the national effort to combat both drug supply and demand across Nigeria.