LAGOS, Nigeria — Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, have arrested two Brazilian returnees for ingesting illicit drugs, according to a statement by the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi.
The suspects, Ofoma Sunday (46) and Ukachukwu Frank Ikechukwu (55), were detained after body scans revealed they had swallowed a combined total of 116 wraps of heroin and cocaine. Both remain under observation as they excreted the drugs over several days.
Ofoma Sunday was arrested on Tuesday, September 16, 2025, at Terminal 2 upon arriving from Brazil via Ethiopia on an Ethiopian Airlines flight. He admitted to traveling to Brazil on September 3 to courier the drugs to Lagos for a reward of $2,500. Subsequent operations led to the arrest of Nweke Jude Chuckwudi, who was coordinating drug recovery at a hotel in Amuwo Odofin, Lagos. Ofoma excreted 111 wraps of heroin weighing 1.452 kilograms.
In a separate incident on Friday, September 19, Ukachukwu Frank Ikechukwu was arrested at MMIA after returning from Brazil through Addis Ababa. He excreted five large wraps of cocaine weighing 145 grams. Ikechukwu confessed to purchasing nine wraps in Brazil and inserting them into his anus, experiencing severe pain during transit which led to him expelling and flushing some of the wraps before arriving in Nigeria.
Ukachukwu disclosed he was previously involved in the clothing business, was deported from the U.S. in 2022 after an immigration offense, and returned to Brazil in March 2025 where he currently resides.
The NDLEA recently also arrested members of an international drug syndicate linked to cocaine worth over N5.3 billion destined for Sydney, Australia, underscoring their ongoing fight against drug trafficking through the Lagos airport.
