Businesswoman Conceals 1.4kg Meth in Butt Pad Underwear as Agency Intercepts Illicit Drug Shipments in Phone Chargers, Food Items Bound for Europe, Hong Kong
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted multiple drug trafficking attempts, arresting several suspects in Lagos, Adamawa, Zamfara, Edo, Taraba, and Yobe States in a major crackdown on illicit drug operations.
Director, Media & Advocacy, Femi Babafemi in a press sttawmwnt gave the highlight of the operations was the arrest of two Brazil returnees, Ofoma Sunday, 46, and Ukachukwu Frank Ikechukwu, who excreted a combined 116 wraps of heroin and cocaine after days of observatory custody at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
Heroin Courier Arrested at Lagos Airport
Ofoma was apprehended on Tuesday, September 16, 2025, upon arrival from Laos, Brazil, on an Ethiopian Airlines flight. A body scan confirmed that he had ingested illicit drugs.
He admitted that he left Nigeria on September 3, 2025, to courier heroin for a promised reward of $2,500.
A follow-up operation led to the arrest of Nweke Jude Chuckwudi, 55, at Eliata Hotel, Amuwo Odofin, Lagos, where the drugs were to be recovered. Ofoma eventually excreted 111 wraps of heroin, weighing 1.452 kilograms, in eight sessions.
Cocaine Courier’s Painful Ordeal
Similarly, on Friday, September 19, 2025, NDLEA operatives arrested Ukachukwu during the inward clearance of Ethiopian Airlines passengers from Brazil via Addis Ababa.
Under observation, he excreted five large wraps of cocaine weighing 145 grams.
He confessed to purchasing nine wraps of cocaine in Brazil, inserting them into his anus—a process that took nearly two hours.
Due to severe anal pain during his transit through Addis Ababa, he removed two wraps, flushed them, and reinserted seven.
Two more wraps were expelled mid-flight, leaving only five wraps by the time he landed in Lagos.
Ukachukwu revealed that he previously lived in the United States, where he was arrested for immigration offenses and deported to Nigeria in 2022. He returned to Brazil in March 2025, where he obtained a residence permit and works currently.
Methamphetamine Hidden in Underwear
In another operation, Okolonkwo Ebere Theresa, a businesswoman, was arrested on Sunday, September 14, 2025, at Terminal 2 of Lagos Airport by NDLEA and Aviation Security officers.
She was caught concealing 1.40 kilograms of methamphetamine inside specially made butt pad underwear while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to Doha.
During interrogation, she admitted to running a used clothing and POS business in Enugu before being recruited into drug trafficking.
Drug Shipments Intercepted in Food and Electronics
At the NAHCO export shed of Lagos Airport, NDLEA intercepted 40 wraps of methamphetamine weighing 2.30 kilograms hidden inside food items bound for Hong Kong via Turkish Airlines.
A 59-year-old suspect, Umelo Ifeanyi Venatus, who presented the consignment, was arrested.
Similarly, on Thursday, September 18, NDLEA operatives at a courier company discovered 257 grams of cocaine concealed inside seven phone chargers heading to New Zealand.
Major Seizures Across States
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Adamawa State:
- 233,800 pills of tramadol recovered in three raids.
- 195,600 pills found in an abandoned Toyota Sienna in Mayo Belwa, Yola South.
- Rita Zira arrested in Jimeta with 27,900 pills in her bedroom.
- Halilu Abubakar, 22, nabbed with 10,300 pills at Namtari checkpoint, Yola.
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Zamfara State:
- 109 bags of skunk cannabis weighing 1,099.4 kilograms seized from Hammed Danladi Aliyu, 40, along Gummi-Daki Takwas road.
- He was transporting the drugs in a Mitsubishi Canter truck to a village in Gummi LGA.
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Yobe State:
- Babangida Usman and Ismail Ibrahim arrested with 14,000 tramadol capsules along Damaturu-Potiskum road.
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Taraba State:
- Anas Hamisu, 28, caught with 25.525 kilograms of skunk in Bali LGA.
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Edo State:
- Two cannabis farms covering 4.532 hectares destroyed in Atororo forest, Owan West LGA.
- Estimated yield: 11,330 kilograms of cannabis.
- Mathew Onoja, 56; Moses Thomas Male, 18; and Friday Uchenjin, 38, arrested.
NDLEA also continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign with sensitization programs in schools, worship centers, and communities across Sokoto, Katsina, Jigawa, Benue, and Kano States.
Zone 11 Command paid an advocacy visit to Enugu State First Lady, Mrs. Nkechinyere Mbah, to strengthen collaboration in the fight against drug abuse.
NDLEA Chairman/CEO, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), hailed the operations as a major victory against drug cartels.
“These arrests and seizures represent a significant milestone in our determined effort to dismantle drug trafficking organizations targeting our youth and tarnishing Nigeria’s global image,” he stated.
He urged NDLEA officers nationwide to remain relentless in their balanced approach to drug control, combining enforcement with public enlightenment.