Two Europe-Based Nigerians Arrested At Abuja Airport With 200 Cocaine Wraps In Their Stomachs
Two Nigerian men based in Europe have been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, after allegedly swallowing 200 wraps of cocaine in an attempt to smuggle the illicit substance to Paris, France.
The suspects, identified as Aliocus Godian Odife and Sam Blackborn, were arrested on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, during the outward clearance of an Air France flight, AF 832, from Abuja to Paris.
According to the NDLEA, the two men had ingested a combined 200 wraps of cocaine weighing 3.460 kilogrammes.
In a statement released on Sunday, the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed that the suspects were subjected to body scans after operatives became suspicious that they had concealed illicit substances in their stomachs.
Odife, who claimed to reside in France and work in a factory, reportedly travelled to Nigeria on October 21 for a short holiday. He was arrested while attempting to return to Paris.
During interrogation, he allegedly admitted swallowing 110 pellets of cocaine. The NDLEA said he was placed under observation and subsequently excreted all 110 wraps, which tested positive for cocaine and weighed 1.901 kilogrammes.
His co-traveller, Blackborn, was also arrested after a body scan revealed foreign objects in his stomach.
He reportedly confessed to swallowing 90 pellets of cocaine, which he later excreted under observation. The recovered substances tested positive for cocaine and weighed 1.559 kilogrammes.
The agency confirmed that both suspects excreted a total of 200 cocaine wraps weighing 3.460 kilogrammes.
Meanwhile, the NDLEA disclosed that its operatives had recorded several other drug seizures and arrests across the country.
In Lagos, two commercial vehicles were intercepted on October 25, leading to the recovery of 976 kilogrammes of skunk, a strong strain of cannabis.
The seizures included 537 kilogrammes recovered from a white Volkswagen LT 28 bus along Kudirat Abiola Way, Ikeja, and another 439 kilogrammes found in a brown J5 bus along the Gbagada-Oshodi Expressway.
In Oyo State, two suspects, Oguntona Nasiru, 46, and Soji Balogun, 47, were arrested on October 29 while allegedly loading 554 kilogrammes of skunk into a Volvo truck at Idere Road, Igboora.
The operation followed an earlier raid targeting a suspected drug dealer identified as Omo Oba, who reportedly escaped during a previous operation on October 25, when 309.5 kilogrammes of Ghanaian Loud cannabis were seized.
Similarly, in Kano State, NDLEA operatives recovered 247,500 diazepam tablets weighing 57.7 kilogrammes and 100,000 Exol-5 tablets weighing 38.7 kilogrammes during a raid in the Tsamiya area of Gezawa on October 26.
Two additional suspects were arrested in Dorayi on October 28 with 19,250 tablets of tramadol 225mg.
The NDLEA said the operations were part of its ongoing nationwide campaign to dismantle drug trafficking networks and prevent the distribution of illicit substances.
