The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arrests two suspected drug traffickers attempting to smuggle heroin into Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos and the Port Harcourt International Airport in Rivers State. A total of 125 wraps of heroin are recovered from the suspects, who ingest the drugs to evade detection.
According to an NDLEA statement on Sunday, operatives at the Port Harcourt airport apprehend Onyekwonike Elochuckwu Sylvanus, who is traveling with a Sierra Leonean passport under the name Kargbo Mohamed Foday. The 30-year-old suspect arrives on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha, with a stopover in Abuja before landing in Port Harcourt.
A body scan confirms that he has ingested illicit drugs. Under observation, he excretes 62 wraps of heroin weighing 1.348 kilograms.
“Following a body scan that confirms drug ingestion, he is placed under strict observation, during which he expels a total of 62 wraps of heroin across five excretions, amounting to 1.348 kilograms,” the agency states.
Investigations reveal that Sylvanus, also known as Kargbo Mohamed Foday, alternates between different identities for drug trafficking operations across Thailand, Pakistan, Iran, and West Africa. He admits to joining the drug trade in 2017 after his clothing and shoe business collapses.
In a separate operation at Lagos airport, NDLEA officers arrest 48-year-old James Herbert Chinoso, who has ingested 63 wraps of heroin. He arrives from Madagascar via Addis Ababa on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
“After a body scan confirms the presence of illicit drugs, he is placed under observation and later expels 63 wraps of heroin, weighing a total of 909 grams,” the agency discloses.
Chinoso reportedly travels from Lagos to Madagascar on January 26 and returns a week later. He claims financial hardship from his failed phone accessories business in Liberia pushes him into drug trafficking.
Beyond these arrests, NDLEA operatives intercept two parcels containing 2.82 kilograms of Loud, a potent synthetic strain of cannabis, smuggled from the U.S. The packages are seized at a courier company in Lagos.
In another operation at a different logistics firm, officers confiscate 80 ampoules of pentazocine injection (225 grams) bound for Canada.
In Kano, two suspects, Usaini Salisu and Yahaya Mu’azu, are arrested after NDLEA operatives find 15,396 tramadol pills hidden inside a gas cylinder. Additionally, a 35-year-old woman, Chioma Okeke, is apprehended in the Sabon Gari area with 15 kilograms of cannabis.
In Kogi State, officers intercept a shipment of 12,800 tramadol pills (250mg) along the Kabba-Obajana highway, arresting a suspect, Salisu Basiru. Another individual, Rufai Hassan, is caught transporting 65 parcels of Colorado, a high-grade variant of cannabis, weighing 1.6 kilograms and destined for Jigawa State.
The NDLEA continues its nationwide operations to disrupt illicit drug trafficking and safeguard public health.
 arrests two suspected drug traffickers attempting to smuggle heroin into Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos and the Port Harcourt International Airport in Rivers State. A total of 125 wraps of heroin are recovered from the suspects, who ingest the drugs to evade detection.){kind=link}