Two Brazilian returnees identified as Ofoma Sunday and Ukachukwu Frank Ikechukwu have been arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and excreted a total of 116 wraps of heroin and cocaine while in their custody.
The suspects who had ingested the drugs, were placed on observatory following their arrest by operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja Lagos.
One of the suspects, 46-year-old Ofoma was arrested on Tuesday, 16th September, 2025 at terminal 2 of the Lagos airport upon his arrival from Laos, Brazil on an Ethiopian airlines flight.
He was taken for body scan which confirmed ingestion of illicit drugs. Ofoma had left Nigeria for Brazil on 3rd September to courier the consignment to Lagos for a reward of $2,500 upon successful delivery.
A swift follow-up operation was conducted at Eliata Hotel in Amuwo Odofin area of Lagos where Ofoma was instructed to meet Nweke Jude Chuckwudi who was designated to oversee the excretion of the drugs at the hotel and recover them.
The 55-year-old Nweke was also arrested in the process.
A total of 111 wraps of heroin weighing 1.452 kilograms were egested in eight excretions by Ofoma.
Similarly, another Brazil returnee Ukachukwu Frank Ikechukwu, was arrested at the Lagos airport during the inward clearance of Ethiopian Airlines passengers from Brazil via Addis Ababa on Friday, 19th September.
He was taken for body scan which confirmed illicit drug insertion. Under excretion observation, Ukachukwu expelled five big wraps of cocaine weighing 145 grams.
In his statement, he confessed to have bought nine wraps of the class A drug in Brazil and inserted all into his anus, a process he claimed took him nearly two hours. During his transit through Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, he said he began to experience severe anal pain and decided to remove the wraps from his body.
He stated that in an attempt to meet up with his connecting flight to Nigeria, he could only manage to reinsert seven wraps, after which he flushed the remaining two wraps in a toilet.
The suspect revealed that while on board his flight to Nigeria, he felt pressed and uncomfortable, which compelled him to use the lavatory. During the process, he expelled an additional two wraps, leaving him with only five wraps in his anus.
He claimed to have been into clothing business before traveling to Brazil in 2017. In 2020, he moved to the United States, where he was arrested for immigration offence and was detained for over a year before being deported to Nigeria in 2022.
In March 2025, he returned to Brazil, where he currently works, having already obtained a Brazilian residence permit.
“These arrests and seizures represent a significant milestone in our determined effort to dismantle drug trafficking organizations operating in Nigeria and around the world, prioritizing those bent on targeting our productive youth population with illicit substances until they’re no longer able to inflict harm on our communities or misrepresent our country’s image in the global space”, said the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) while commending the officers and men of MMIA, DOGI, Adamawa, Zamfara, Edo, Taraba, and Yobe Commands for the various successful operations. He enjoined them and their colleagues across the country to continue with the ongoing balanced approach to the drug control efforts of the Agency.
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