NDLEA Nabs 2 Businessmen, Canada-based Nurse at Lagos Airport for Cocaine, Loud Trafficking

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has announced the arrest of two businessmen and a Canada-based nurse at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos for attempting to traffic cocaine and Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis.

The individuals apprehended were identified as Ihejirika Okechukwu Emmanuel, Iwuagwu Ikedi

Victory, and Usman Grace Khadijat Olami.

Ihejirika Okechukwu Emmanuel, a 51-year-old businessman, was detained on October 15, 2024, while trying to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Thailand via Addis Ababa. A body scan revealed he had ingested cocaine, leading to his placement under excretion observation.

During this period, he expelled five egg-sized wraps of cocaine weighing 400 grams. He confessed that he was to be compensated upon successful delivery of the drugs in Thailand, which he intended to use to support his fish importation business.

Similarly, Iwuagwu Ikedi Victory, a 26-year-old businessman, was intercepted on October 17, 2024, during the inward clearance of passengers arriving from Brazil via Addis Ababa on an Ethiopian Airlines flight. His body scan also indicated drug ingestion, and he subsequently excreted a pellet of cocaine weighing 22 grams.

Victory admitted to ingesting 30 wraps of cocaine in Brazil, excreting 29 pellets in Addis Ababa, and handing them over to another individual. He was promised a payment of N2.5 million for his role in the drug trafficking operation.

Usman Grace Khadijat Olami, a Canadian-based nurse, was arrested on October 4, 2024, during the inward clearance of Air France passengers from Toronto, Canada, via Paris.

A search of her luggage uncovered 70 parcels of Canadian Loud, weighing 35.70 kg. During questioning, she claimed she was visiting Nigeria to meet her boyfriend, who had instructed her to bring the large consignment of synthetic cannabis.