The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has confirmed that a 59-year-old businessman, Chijioke Nnanna Igbokwe, underwent exploratory laparotomy surgery after ingesting 81 pellets of cocaine in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Following seven days of attempts to expel the drugs, 57 of the pellets were extracted from his stomach.
NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, stated that Igbokwe was arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport on January 26, 2025, after his body scan revealed illicit drugs. Igbokwe, who claimed to run a cloth business in Oshodi, Lagos, had traveled to Addis Ababa on January 22 and ingested the drugs the following day before boarding a flight to Beirut to deliver the consignment for $3,000.
Upon arrival in Beirut, he was denied entry due to insufficient funds and deported to Addis Ababa, where he failed to excrete the drugs. He then traveled back to Lagos on January 25, 2025, and was arrested the following day.
After five days under observation, Igbokwe was transferred to Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), where he underwent surgery to remove the remaining 57 pellets. In total, the NDLEA recovered 81 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.943 kilograms from his body.
In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives intercepted 2,000 kilograms of Ghanaian Loud cannabis at Lekki beach. Two suspects, Sunday Awoyede and Christopher Cletus, were arrested while attempting to load the drugs into a truck. Another suspect, Lawal Idris Olasunkanmi, was also arrested in Lagos with 55 kilograms of skunk.
