NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, confirmed the arrests in a statement issued on Sunday, revealing that one of the suspects, Onyekwonike Elochuckwu Sylvanus, operates under dual identities to evade detection.
Sylvanus, 30, was caught at Port Harcourt airport on February 2, 2025, using a Sierra Leonean passport under the name Kargbo Mohamed Foday.
“He was intercepted during the inward clearance of passengers on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha via Abuja.
“A body scan confirmed he had ingested illicit drugs, and under observation, he excreted 62 wraps of heroin weighing 1.348 kilograms in five sessions,” Babafemi stated.
Further investigations showed that Sylvanus alternated between his Nigerian and Sierra Leonean passports for drug trafficking across Thailand, Pakistan, Iran, and West Africa.
He reportedly admitted to going full-time into the drug trade in 2017 after his clothing and shoe business collapsed.
The second suspect, James Chinoso, 48, was arrested on February 1, 2025, at Lagos airport after arriving from Madagascar via Ethiopia on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
“A body scan confirmed he had illicit drugs in his system. Under observation, he excreted 63 wraps of heroin weighing 909 grams,” Babafemi said.
Chinoso reportedly left Lagos for Madagascar on January 26, 2025, and returned a week later.
“He claimed he turned to drug trafficking after his phone accessories business in Liberia collapsed,” Babafemi added.
In a separate operation on February 6, NDLEA operatives from the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation intercepted 2.82 kilograms of Loud, a synthetic cannabis strain, smuggled from the United States and destined for Lagos.
That same day, another logistics firm in Lagos was found to be shipping 80 ampoules of pentazocine injection (225 grams) concealed in cartons to Canada.
In Kano, NDLEA operatives on February 3 arrested Usaini Salisu and Yahaya Mu’azu, both 23, at Gadar Tamburawa along Zaria Road, recovering 15,396 tramadol pills hidden in a gas cylinder.
A separate operation in Sabon Gari, Kano, led to the arrest of Chioma Okeke, 35, with 27 blocks of skunk (15 kg of cannabis).
On February 8, NDLEA officers intercepted 12,800 tramadol 250mg pills along the Kabba-Obajana Highway in Kogi State, arresting Salisu Basiru, 33.
The same day, 65 parcels of Colorado (1.6 kg of synthetic cannabis) headed for Jigawa State were recovered from Rufai Hassan, 32, at a checkpoint.
NDLEA, in the statement, vowed to intensify crackdowns on drug syndicates across the country.
