Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have arrested a Nigeria-born businessman based in Brazil after he arrived in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial centre, with cocaine allegedly concealed on his body and inside his footwear.
The suspect, Uche Franklin Onyekwere, was taken into custody at the arrival hall of Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja, according to the agency.
The NDLEA said the arrest happened on Thursday, 29 January 2026, during the inward clearance of passengers on South African Airways arriving from Brazil through Johannesburg, following intelligence received ahead of the flight. Okay News reports that officers moved in after profiling the traveller on arrival.
The agency said a full body scan carried out on the 47-year-old confirmed suspected drug concealment.
“He was subjected to a strip search, during which a large parcel of a white powdery substance, later confirmed to be cocaine, was discovered wrapped around his right thigh. A further search revealed two additional wraps of the same substance concealed in the sole of a pair of flat shoes worn by the suspect,” the NDLEA said.
In total, three large wraps of cocaine weighing 1.60 kilogrammes were recovered from his body and footwear, the agency added.
During preliminary questioning, the suspect allegedly said he bought the drugs in Brazil and planned to sell them in Nigeria to raise capital for his business and support the naming ceremony of his newborn child.
The businessman, who reportedly lives on Rua Ever, Mulariuha, São Paulo, said he has lived in Brazil since 2008 and has operated a toy business for about nine years.
In a separate operation in Lagos, NDLEA officers at Tincan Seaport, working with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies, intercepted 55 jumbo bags of “Canadian Loud”, a high-strength strain of cannabis, with a total weight of 1,183 kilogrammes. The agency said the shipment was imported from Montreal in Canada.
Officials said the drugs were hidden inside two vehicles, a Hyundai sport utility vehicle and a Toyota Matrix, placed inside a container examined on Wednesday, 28 January 2026.
In Niger State, a north-central Nigerian state bordering Abuja, operatives said they stopped a truck on Monday, 26 January 2026, along the Dei-Dei–Abuja Expressway and arrested Andy Chidogu, Kenneth Ogene, and Sadiq Olanrewaju.
The NDLEA said the suspects were transporting 176 bags of skunk, a common street name for high-potency cannabis, weighing 2,735 kilogrammes, as well as one kilogramme of Colorado, which was concealed in the vehicle.
Investigators said the truck had earlier delivered flour from Lagos to Ekpoma in Edo State before it was later used to convey the drugs for a fee of ₦1.7 million.
Also in Edo State, NDLEA officers said they arrested Shaibu Yusuf on Tuesday, 27 January 2026, along the Auchi-Abuja Expressway with 66 bags of skunk concealed in charcoal sacks, weighing 792 kilogrammes, allegedly heading to Katsina in northern Nigeria.
The agency also said its operatives, supported by the Nigerian Army, raided a cannabis farm at Ebora Camp in Ilushi, within Esan South-East Local Government Area. Officials said more than 4,063 kilogrammes of skunk was destroyed across 1.6 hectares of farmland, while 328 kilogrammes of processed cannabis and seeds were recovered. Four suspects were arrested, according to the NDLEA.
In Anambra State in southeastern Nigeria, officers said they stopped a cement truck at Upper Iweka in Onitsha and recovered 345.2 kilogrammes of skunk concealed in cement bags, leading to the arrest of Abum Okeke.
In Ondo State, in southwestern Nigeria, the agency said two suspects, Tunde Ogundele and Soji Elegbelye, were arrested in Akure North with 473 kilogrammes of skunk.
In Kano, the NDLEA said Abdullahi Usman was arrested with 12,500 ampoules of pentazocine, while Musa Shuaibu was arrested in Gaya with 4,390 tramadol pills.
Back in Lagos, officials said Oragwan Ekene was arrested at Alaba with 15.5 kilogrammes of skunk allegedly bound for Onitsha. The agency also said that at the Seme border area in Badagry, officers recovered 3.5 kilogrammes of skunk from the luggage of Omang Peter Edward arriving from Cotonou, the largest city and main port in Benin.
The NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended officers involved in the arrests and seizures across multiple commands and asked them to maintain a balanced approach that targets both drug supply and demand.
The agency also said it continued its War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation campaigns nationwide in schools, worship centres, workplaces, and communities.
