ABUJA, June 16 — The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested businessman Ezemokwe Chukwuebuka Christian at Port Harcourt International Airport (PHIA) for attempting to traffic cocaine to Iran.
According to NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, Ezemokwe, 44, was intercepted on Saturday, June 7, while boarding a Qatar Airways flight to Tehran via Doha. A body scan confirmed he had ingested illicit drugs. He later expelled 53 wraps of cocaine, weighing 1.172 kg, in six excretions while under observation.
Ezemokwe confessed to trafficking drugs between West Africa and Iran for the past two years.
This arrest comes just two weeks after the agency intercepted 60-year-old businessman Chinedu Leonard Okigbo at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport with 65 pellets of cocaine in his stomach, also en route to Iran.
In another operation, NDLEA officers at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, working with the Aviation Security of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), apprehended Edobor Ambrose Ali. The Italy-bound passenger was found carrying 14,410 pills of tramadol concealed in winter jackets in his luggage. Edobor admitted he was hired in Italy and paid €2,000 for the operation.
Meanwhile, on June 13 at Onne Port, Rivers State, NDLEA agents seized 157,800 bottles of codeine-based syrup worth over ₦1.1 billion, concealed behind ceramic sanitary wares in a shipping container flagged for inspection.
In related crackdowns:
On June 12, three suspects were arrested in Cross River State during a warehouse raid where 2,687 kg of cannabis (skunk) was found.
On the same day in Bauchi State, two suspects were arrested with 287 kg of skunk hidden in a Toyota Camry.
At Oniru beach in Lagos, 560 kg of skunk was recovered from a wooden boat.
Two businessmen, Ishaku Abdullahi (30) and Buba Usman (32), were arrested at the Muhammadu Buhari International Airport, Maiduguri, with ecstasy pills and skunk wrapped as “Lychee” and “Porro Legal.”
NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), praised the agency’s regional commands for their consistent efforts in reducing drug trafficking and abuse across Nigeria.
