Ex-Footballer, Europe-Based Businessmen, Grandma Arrested as NDLEA Seizes 22.6kg Drugs at Lagos, Enugu Airports

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a former professional footballer, Segun George Hunkarin, and four others in a series of anti-narcotics operations that led to the seizure of 22.6 kilogrammes of cocaine and methamphetamine at major Nigerian airports.

NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday, said Hunkarin and a businessman, Ntoruka Chinedu, were arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, over an attempt to smuggle cocaine into Nigeria.

Chinedu, a frequent flyer who shuttles between Turkey and Nigeria, was nabbed last Tuesday with 37 wraps of cocaine weighing 800 grammes hidden in his hand luggage. He was arriving from Turkey via Addis Ababa on an Ethiopian Airlines flight. Investigations revealed the drugs were handed to him during his transit in Addis Ababa.

Hunkarin, who previously played football in Brazil, was arrested while waiting to collect the consignment at the airport’s car park. He reportedly admitted to past drug trafficking from Brazil to Ethiopia but denied smuggling into Nigeria.

In a separate operation at the Lagos airport last Friday, NDLEA operatives intercepted Europe-based businessman Amen Okoro attempting to export 5,000 pills of tramadol disguised as malaria drugs to Spain. Okoro claimed he planned to transit through France and deliver the drugs to Italy for distribution.

Meanwhile, at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, NDLEA officers intercepted two passengers on Ethiopian Airlines flights from South Africa and Brazil. Ezenwaka Chibuzor, a 38-year-old bar attendant based in Mozambique, was found with 17 parcels of methamphetamine weighing 17.5kg and three parcels of cocaine weighing 3.05kg hidden in bedsheets.

Another suspect, 54-year-old Azu Kpodar, who arrived from Sao Paulo, Brazil, was caught with 1.25kg of liquid cocaine concealed in a branded liquid soap container. Kpodar claimed he bought the item while shopping for his wedding.

In additional operations across the country, NDLEA officers intercepted 26-year-old Beninese national, Vode Jean-Luck, at the Seme border with 29.5kg of cannabis skunk balls.

In Kwara State, notorious drug dealer Mary Oladele, known as “Iya Nafi,” was arrested in Omu-Aran, Irepodun LGA, with quantities of skunk, tramadol, and flunitrazepam.

Also arrested was 72-year-old grandmother, Mrs. Christy Ejaro, in the Niger CAT area of Warri, Delta State, with sachets of retail-sized skunk.

NDLEA Chairman/CEO Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd) commended officers across the Lagos, Enugu, Delta, Kwara, and Seme commands for their coordinated operations. He also praised the agency’s continued War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy across Nigeria.