The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 30-year-old Italy-based businessman, Joseph Cyril, at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, for allegedly ingesting 98 wraps of cocaine while attempting to travel to Italy via Addis Ababa and France.
The suspect was arrested at the airport’s departure hall on Sunday, August 2, 2026, during the outward clearance of passengers on an Ethiopian Airlines flight, ET930.
He was subsequently placed under excretion observation, during which he excreted 98 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.510 kilogrammes.
The NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said in a statement on Sunday that investigations revealed that Cyril arrived in Nigeria from Italy on July 13, 2026, and allegedly ingested the drug in a hotel in Awka, Anambra State, before travelling to Enugu to board his flight to Europe on August 2.
‘In his statement, he claimed he had been doing business in Italy for years before agreeing to traffic the drug consignment for a fee of 3,500 euros in order to raise money to relocate to Germany, where his family is based,’ Babafemi said.
He added that attempts by some drug trafficking syndicates to export 1.2 kilogrammes of cocaine concealed in 25 phone chargers to Saudi Arabia were thwarted by NDLEA operatives at a courier company in Lagos.
Babafemi said a similar attempt to send 500 grammes of cocaine concealed in the false bottom of a backpack to Italy was also foiled by NDLEA officers at another logistics company on Monday, August 3.
He added that a consignment of 2.3 kilogrammes of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, coming from the United States was intercepted at another shipping company in Lagos on Tuesday, August 4.
Meanwhile, NDLEA officers on patrol along the Akure-Ilesha Expressway on Tuesday, August 4, intercepted a truck heading north with 1,633 kilogrammes of skunk concealed in bags of rice chaff.
The statement said two suspects, Buba Jamilu, 40, and Sanusi Ibrahim, 30, who were allegedly transporting the consignment, were arrested.
It added that a total of 147 kilogrammes of skunk was recovered from Ita-Ogbolu Forest during a raid operation on Monday, August 3.