‘I took €3,500 to traffic drugs, raise money for Germany relocation’

Stanley Ihedigbo

A 30-year-old Italy-based businessman, Joseph Cyril, has confessed to accepting €3,500 to ingest 98 wraps of cocaine, claiming that the money was intended to help finance his relocation from Italy to Germany, where his family is based.

The suspect, who was nabbed at the departure hall of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, on Sunday, August 2, 2026, during the outward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET930, was subsequently placed under excretion observation, during which he excreted 98 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.510 kilograms.

According to the Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters, Femi Babafemi, investigations revealed that Cyril arrived in Nigeria from Italy on July 13, 2026, and ingested the drugs at a hotel in Awka, Anambra State, before proceeding to Enugu to board his flight to Europe on Sunday, August 2.

In his statement, he claimed that he had been doing business in Italy for years before agreeing to traffic the drug consignment for a fee of €3,500 to raise money to relocate to Germany, where his family is based.

Attempts by some drug trafficking syndicates to export 1.2 kilograms of cocaine concealed in 25 pieces of phone chargers destined for Saudi Arabia were thwarted by NDLEA operatives at a courier firm in Lagos.

A similar attempt to send 500 grams of the same Class A drug, hidden in the false bottom of a backpack, to Italy was equally aborted at another logistics company by NDLEA officers on Monday, August 3. Also, a consignment of 2.3kg 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 to the North with 1,633 kilograms of skunk concealed in bags of rice chaff. Two suspects, Buba Jamilu, 40, and Sanusi Ibrahim, 30, who were transporting the consignment, were arrested.

A total of 147kg of skunk was also recovered from Ita Ogbolu Forest during a raid operation on Monday, August 3.

In Oyo State, operatives, acting on credible intelligence, raided a drug warehouse in Elebure Village, Orire Local Government Area, on Monday, August 3, where they recovered 731.03 kilograms of illicit drugs and arrested a suspect, Felicia Thompson, 57. Her partner, Thompson Vincent Nwaka, is currently at large.

In a similar operation in Edo State on Wednesday, August 5, operatives, supported by soldiers, recovered 65 jumbo bags of skunk weighing 604.5kg at Ewe Luleha in Owan West Local Government Area.

In Abia State, a drug joint operator, Chibuike Charles, 31, was arrested during a raid at his Samec by Powerline base in Osisioma Local Government Area, where 7kg of skunk was seized on Thursday, August 6.

Also, a notorious wanted drug dealer, Adome Claude Sikuru, was nabbed on Saturday, August 8, at the Fibre Market drug jungle in Badagry, Lagos, after a three-month manhunt. At the time of his arrest, 88.5kg of skunk was seized from him.

A total of 73 cartons containing 442 packets of cookies and gummies infused with cannabis, weighing 309.4kg, were discovered during a joint examination of a 40-foot container by NDLEA officers, Customs and other security agencies on Tuesday, August 4, at the Tin Can Port Complex, Lagos.

A suspect, Larry Nnaji, has already been arrested in connection with the seizure.
Meanwhile, Commands and formations of the Agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities, among others, during the past week.

The activities included WADA enlightenment lectures for students and staff of Islamic High School, Saki, Oyo State; Holy Ghost Academy, Nkpor, Anambra State; and Madarasatul Hidayatul Aulad Islamiyya, Gaya, Kano State.

The Rivers State Command of the NDLEA also paid a WADA advocacy visit to the management of Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, among other engagements.

While commending the officers and men of DOGI, AIIA, Ondo, Oyo, Edo, Abia, Seme and Tin Can Commands for their various successful operations, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd.), enjoined them and their colleagues across the country to sustain the ongoing balanced approach to the Agency’s drug control efforts.