ABUJA, Nigeria — A Nigerian businessman has been arrested after excreting 127 wraps of cocaine at the international airport in Kano, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency announced Sunday, detailing a series of major busts that also uncovered methamphetamine hidden in ceramic blocks and opioids bound for Europe.
The 52-year-old suspect, Ejiofor Godwin Emeka, was taken into custody on Wednesday, Oct. 8, upon his arrival from Bangkok, Thailand. Agency spokesman Femi Babafemi said in a statement that officers acted on “credible intelligence.”
“He was taken for body scan which confirmed he ingested illicit drugs and had some concealed in his private part,” Babafemi stated.
Officials said 58 wraps of cocaine were immediately recovered from his pants. Emeka was then placed under observation, during which he egested an additional 69 pellets. The total haul of 127 wraps weighed 1.388 kilograms. Emeka, who operates boutiques in Lagos and Onitsha, remains in custody.
The arrest was part of a sweeping, nationwide operation that thwarted numerous international drug trafficking attempts. In Lagos, NDLEA operatives at a courier company intercepted three consignments destined for the United Kingdom. One shipment contained 1.74 kg of methamphetamine concealed within blocks of glass ceramics. Other U.K.-bound packages held tramadol and pentazocine injections.
Agents also foiled schemes to ship drugs to several other countries from Lagos, including:
2.6 kg of skunk and 422 grams of tapentadol hidden in black soap tablets heading to Turkey.
169 grams of cocaine concealed in a lady’s handbag bound for Australia.
568 grams of Loud, a potent cannabis strain, disguised in herb containers destined for the United Arab Emirates.
At the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos, officers intercepted 27,510 pills of rohypnol hidden in sachets of alcoholic drinks intended for South Africa. A follow-up operation led to the arrest of the alleged mastermind, 46-year-old Samuel Omoruyi.
On the same day, operatives arrested an Italy-based businessman, Enehizena Augustine Uyimwen, as he allegedly attempted to export 6,300 pills of tramadol and tapentadol hidden in food items. “He claimed he was trafficking the opioids for someone else for a fee of Nine Hundred and Forty-Five Euros (€945),” the agency reported.
The crackdown extended across the country, with significant seizures of skunk, a strain of cannabis, in several states. Raids in Edo, Osun, Rivers, and Katsina states resulted in multiple arrests and the recovery of nearly 800 kilograms of the substance.
In Niger state, officers arrested a suspect with 22,000 tramadol capsules and 150,000 pills of exol-5. Another suspect was apprehended at the Abuja-Kaduna toll gate with an additional 150,000 exol-5 pills being transported from Lagos to Katsina.
NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) commended the officers for the successful operations.
“I urge them and their compatriots across the country to maintain their tenacity, professionalism and balanced approach to the drug control efforts of the Agency,” Marwa said.
