Newlywed Arrested After Allegedly Excreting 72 Cocaine Wraps at Enugu Airport

Newlywed Arrested After Allegedly Excreting 72 Cocaine Wraps at Enugu Airport

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arrested a 53-year-old Nigerian passenger at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, after he allegedly ingested 72 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.253 kilogrammes.

The suspect, identified as Lovely Chukwulobelu, was arrested on December 3, 2021, during the outward screening of passengers travelling on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Enugu to Rome, Italy, via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

According to the NDLEA, the suspect was detected during the airport’s screening process after operatives suspected that he had ingested drug pellets.

He was subsequently placed under observation, during which the 72 wraps of cocaine were recovered after he excreted them.

The total weight of the recovered cocaine was put at 1.253kg, according to the anti-narcotics agency.

During questioning, Charley allegedly told NDLEA officials that he was expected to receive €4,000 after successfully delivering the drugs in Italy.

The suspect reportedly told investigators that he had been living in Italy for more than 20 years and attributed his alleged involvement in the drug trade to the downturn in his business during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The arrest formed part of a wider series of drug-trafficking interceptions reported by the NDLEA at Nigerian airports and other locations at the time.

At the same period, the agency reported the arrest of another Nigerian passenger, Uzoh Ndubuisi Johnson, who allegedly arrived at the Enugu airport from Brazil through Addis Ababa with 6.7kg of cocaine concealed in clothes.

The NDLEA also reported the arrest of John Kadja, a 25-year-old passenger of Ghanaian and Nigerian parentage, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, with 2kg of methamphetamine allegedly concealed in the false bottom of his luggage.

The agency said the arrests demonstrated the methods being used by suspected drug traffickers to move illicit substances through Nigeria’s international airports.

The then Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers involved in the interceptions and urged them to remain vigilant in efforts to prevent the trafficking of illicit drugs.

The agency has continued to deploy passenger profiling, luggage searches, body scanning and other screening measures at international airports to detect attempts to move cocaine and other illicit drugs across Nigeria’s borders.

The Enugu case also illustrates one of the methods used by suspected traffickers, in which drug pellets are allegedly swallowed before a passenger boards a flight and later recovered under controlled observation.

The allegation against Charley was made by the NDLEA, and the reported arrest and drug recovery do not by themselves constitute a conviction. Any criminal liability would ultimately be determined through the appropriate judicial process.

Newlywed Arrested After Allegedly Excreting 72 Cocaine Wraps at Enugu Airport