Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have arrested two Brazil returnees at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, for attempting to smuggle heroin and cocaine into the country through drug ingestion.According to a statement by the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the suspects, identified as Ofoma Sunday, 46, and Ukachukwu Frank Ikechukwu, 55, were placed under observation after body scans confirmed they ingested illicit substances.
Ofoma was arrested on September 16, 2025, upon arrival from Laos, Brazil, on an Ethiopian Airlines flight. Investigations revealed he left Nigeria on September 3 to courier the consignment for a promised reward of \$2,500. A follow-up operation led NDLEA operatives to Eliata Hotel in Amuwo Odofin, Lagos, where Ofoma was meant to excrete the drugs and hand them over to one Nweke Jude Chuckwudi. Nweke was arrested, and Ofoma later excreted 111 wraps of heroin weighing 1.452 kilograms.
In a separate operation, Ikechukwu was apprehended on September 19 during the inward clearance of Ethiopian Airlines passengers from Brazil via Addis Ababa. A body scan confirmed he concealed cocaine in his body, leading to his placement under strict monitoring. He excreted five wraps of cocaine weighing 145 grams. During interrogation, he confessed to initially inserting nine wraps in Brazil but discarded two in Ethiopia due to severe pain.
NDLEA noted that Ikechukwu had lived in Brazil since 2017 after venturing into the clothing business. He later relocated to the United States but was deported to Nigeria in 2022 for immigration offences, before returning to Brazil in 2025, where he secured residency.
The agency also linked these arrests to its broader crackdown on international drug syndicates. On August 26, 2025, NDLEA intercepted 76 cartons of textile materials at the Lagos airport export shed, uncovering cocaine worth N5.3 billion bound for Sydney, Australia. Three members of the syndicate were later arrested.
Source: https://www.tvcnews.tv/
