The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 75-year-old grandfather, Nna Nnanna Felix, and two brothers, John Abugu (43) and Kenneth Abugu (31), in separate anti-drug operations across the country.
The Abugu brothers were taken into custody on Thursday, April 3, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos while attempting to travel to India.
According to NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, the pair were found with five kilograms of cocaine hidden in the walls of their suitcases.
Despite their claim of travelling for medical treatment, they were intercepted based on credible intelligence.
“In the course of a thorough search, officers discovered whitish powdery substances concealed within their luggage, which were later confirmed to be cocaine,” Babafemi stated.
On the same day at the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives also arrested a 20-year-old Ghanaian-British national, Parker Darren Hazekia Osei.
The suspect, a Computer Science student at East London University, was caught with 36 parcels of Loud — a potent form of cannabis — weighing 19.4 kilograms.
He reportedly arrived from Bangkok, Thailand, and admitted he had picked up the drugs there for delivery in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, in Abia State, a raid on April 5 led to the arrest of Nna Felix in Umunteke Asa, Ukwa West LGA.
He was found in possession of 1.6 kilograms of skunk, another variant of cannabis.
Earlier in the week, on April 1, NDLEA officers arrested 21-year-old David Chinemerem in Aba for possessing 2,050 ampoules of pentazocine, a powerful prescription drug.
The agency also reported major drug seizures and arrests in Kogi, Yobe, Anambra, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
In Kogi, a 33-year-old woman, Ngozi Ogili, was arrested along the Okene-Lokoja highway while transporting three kilograms of methamphetamine from Lagos to Abuja.
Follow-up investigations led to the seizure of more illicit substances, including Loud and Colorado.
In Yobe State, Abdullahi Adamu was apprehended on April 5 along the Potiskum-Damaturu road with 381 bottles of codeine syrup and 108 tablets of tramadol.
Raids in Anambra led to the arrest of multiple suspects, including Obinna Sunday and Ugochukwu Ojalanonye. NDLEA agents seized 195,000 tramadol pills, 4.2 kilograms of codeine syrup, and 5.4 kilograms of pentazocine.
In the FCT, operatives arrested 51-year-old Sunday Ayogu at Wuse Market, Abuja, on April 3.
He was caught with 25 kilograms of skunk and 90.4 grams of methamphetamine.
A day later, on April 4, two women — 64-year-old Faith Etim and 40-year-old Victoria Asuquo Etim — were arrested during a raid on cannabis farms in Esuk-Odot community, Odukpani LGA, Cross River State.
The operation, supported by the Nigerian Army, led to the destruction of cannabis plants estimated at 250,000 kilograms, spread across over 100 hectares of farmland.