NDLEA Arrests Two Europe-Bound Cocaine Couriers at Abuja Airport, Recovers 200 Wraps
Oru Leonard
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), has arrested two Nigerian businessmen based in Europe after they were allegedly found to have ingested 200 wraps of cocaine weighing 3.46 kilogrammes while attempting to travel from Abuja to Paris, France.
The suspects, identified as Aliocus Godian Odife and Sam Blackborn, were arrested on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, during the outward clearance of an Air France flight AF 832 at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
The NDLEA disclosed that the two men, who had returned to Nigeria for holidays, were intercepted following body scans that revealed foreign objects in their stomachs.
According to the agency, Odife, who claimed to reside in France and work in a factory, arrived in Nigeria on October 21. He reportedly confessed to ingesting 110 pellets of cocaine, which he subsequently excreted under observation. The recovered wraps weighed 1.901 kilogrammes.
His co-traveller, Blackborn, was also subjected to a body scan that confirmed ingestion. He reportedly admitted swallowing 90 pellets, which were later recovered and weighed 1.559 kilogrammes.
In a separate operation in Lagos, NDLEA operatives intercepted two vehicles suspected of transporting cannabis on Sunday, October 25.
The first operation along Kudirat Abiola Way, Ikeja, led to the seizure of 537 kilogrammes of skunk from a Volkswagen LT 28 bus, while another 439 kilogrammes of the substance was recovered from a J5 bus 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, Igboora.
The operation was reportedly part of efforts to apprehend a notorious drug dealer identified as ‘Omo Oba’, who escaped arrest during an earlier operation on October 25, when 309.5 kilogrammes of Ghanaian Loud were seized.
Similarly, NDLEA operatives in Kano State recovered 247,500 tablets of diazepam weighing 57.7 kilogrammes and 100,000 tablets of Exol-5 weighing 38.7 kilogrammes during a raid in Tsamiya, Gezawa, on October 26.
Two other suspects, Ziya’ulhaq Abdullahi, 35, and Garba Muhammed, 52, were arrested in Dorayi on October 28 with 19,250 tablets of tramadol 225mg.
Meanwhile, a woman, Aisha Isah, was arrested at a toll gate along the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway while allegedly transporting 266 rounds of live AK-47 ammunition.
On the Zaria-Kano Expressway, NDLEA officers also arrested a 68-year-old man, Ifeanyi Egwolonwu, 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.
Another raid at Tashan Banke resulted in the arrest of seven suspects, including Faisal Adamu, and the recovery of 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. Those arrested included 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, NDLEA operatives, working alongside soldiers, raided Eko Camp in Ilushi, Esan South East Local Government Area, on October 28.
The operation resulted in the destruction of a cannabis plantation measuring 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 an additional 176 kilogrammes was recovered during the operation.
In Sokoto State, operatives of the NDLEA 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.
The agency also sustained its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaign during the week, organising awareness programmes in schools and communities across several states, including Lagos, Enugu, Kano and Ogun.
The NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended officers of the Abuja airport and the Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto, Ondo, Oyo and Edo commands for the arrests and seizures.
Marwa described the interception of the two cocaine couriers as a warning to Nigerians living abroad who may attempt to exploit their overseas residence to traffic illicit drugs across the country’s borders.
He maintained that NDLEA personnel at the nation’s entry and exit points remained vigilant, warning that those who ingest illicit substances for financial rewards risk serious consequences.
The NDLEA boss further urged officers across the country to sustain the momentum against drug trafficking networks while intensifying drug prevention and public enlightenment programmes in schools, religious centres, workplaces and communities.
(NDLEA Headquarters, November 1, 2026)
