The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has apprehended two brothers at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Ikeja, Lagos, for attempting to smuggle 5 kilograms of cocaine concealed in the walls of their suitcases while en route to India.
NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, announced the arrest in a statement on Sunday. According to Babafemi, the brothers – John Abugu, 43, and Kenneth Abugu, 31 – were detained on Thursday, April 3, 2025, after NDLEA operatives acted on credible intelligence.
The brothers, who claimed they were traveling to India for medical treatment, were stopped during a routine inspection at the airport. A thorough search of their suitcases revealed a whitish powdery substance, which was later confirmed to be cocaine, hidden within the walls of their bags.
“Operatives of the NDLEA’s Special Operations Unit arrested two brothers—John Abugu, 43, and Kenneth Abugu, 31—at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, with 5 kilograms of cocaine concealed in the walls of their suitcases while attempting to board a flight to India,” the statement read.
In a separate operation on the same day, NDLEA officers at MMIA intercepted a 20-year-old Ghanaian-British man, Parker Darren Hazekia Osei, who was carrying 36 parcels of “Loud,” a potent strain of cannabis weighing 19.40 kilograms. The cannabis was packed in a large traveling bag.
Meanwhile, in Abia State, NDLEA officers made two significant arrests. On Saturday, April 5, 2025, a 75-year-old man, Nna Nnanna Felix, was arrested with 1.6 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis, during a raid in Umunteke Asa, Ukwa West Local Government Area. On Tuesday, April 1, 2025, another suspect, 21-year-old David Chinemerem, was apprehended with 2,050 ampoules of pentazocine at 7 Nnajiego Lane, Umuode Road, Aba.
Babafemi also revealed that a suspect, who identified himself as a student of Computer Science at East London University, was arrested on Thursday, April 3, 2025, during an inward clearance of passengers on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Bangkok, Thailand. The individual, who claimed to live with his parents in the UK, had traveled to Bangkok a week before the arrest to pick up an illicit drug consignment, which he was attempting to deliver in Nigeria.
“This individual was intercepted at the E-arrival hall of the Lagos airport, where officers discovered the illegal drugs. He admitted to picking up the drugs in Bangkok before returning to Nigeria to deliver them,” Babafemi stated.
