The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a Brazil based Nigerian businessman, Uche Franklin Onyekwere, at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, for allegedly smuggling cocaine concealed in his private parts and in the soles of his shoes.
Onyekwere was picked up on Thursday, January 29, 2026, during inward clearance of South African Airways passengers arriving from Brazil via Johannesburg, following processed intelligence. A full body scan reportedly indicated illicit drug concealment, after which he was subjected to a strip search.
Officials said a large parcel of white powdery substance later confirmed as cocaine was found wrapped around his right thigh, while two more wraps were discovered hidden in the soles of a pair of flat shoes he was wearing. In total, three large wraps of cocaine weighing 1.60 kilogrammes were recovered.
During preliminary interrogation, the 47 year old suspect allegedly confessed that he bought the drugs in Brazil to resell in Nigeria in order to raise capital for his business and fund the naming ceremony of his newborn child. He said he had lived in São Paulo since 2008, running a toy business for about nine years.
In a related operation at Tincan Port in Lagos, NDLEA operatives working with the Nigeria Customs Service and other agencies intercepted 55 jumbo bags of Canadian Loud, a strong strain of cannabis, weighing 1,183 kilogrammes. The drugs were hidden inside a Hyundai SUV and a Toyota Matrix inside a container from Montreal, Canada.
Across several states, NDLEA also made more arrests and seizures. In Niger State, three men were arrested while transporting 176 bags of skunk weighing 2,735 kilogrammes and one kilogramme of Colorado in a truck along the Dei Dei–Abuja Expressway. In Edo, officers intercepted 66 bags of skunk weighing 792 kilogrammes and destroyed over 4,063 kilogrammes of cannabis on a 1.6 hectare farm at Ebora Camp, Ilushi, arresting four suspects.
Other operations included the seizure of hundreds of kilogrammes of skunk in Anambra, Ondo and Lagos, and the arrest of suspects with large quantities of pentazocine and tramadol in Kano. NDLEA Chairman, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), praised the officers for the arrests and seizures and urged them to sustain efforts against both drug supply and demand.
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