The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has apprehended two suspected drug kingpins at Port Harcourt International Airport and Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos. The suspects had excreted a combined total of 125 wraps of heroin.
Femi Babafemi, the NDLEA spokesperson, confirmed the arrests in a statement released on Sunday, noting that one of the suspects, Onyekwonike Elochuckwu Sylvanus, was using dual identities to avoid detection.
Port Harcourt Arrest: Dual Passports
Sylvanus, 30, was arrested at Port Harcourt airport on February 2, 2025, while attempting to pass through with a Sierra Leonean passport under the name Kargbo Mohamed Foday. He was intercepted during the inward clearance of passengers arriving on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha via Abuja.
A body scan revealed that Sylvanus had ingested illicit drugs, and under observation, he excreted 62 wraps of heroin weighing 1.348 kilograms across five sessions, Babafemi stated.
Further investigation uncovered that Sylvanus had been using both his Nigerian and Sierra Leonean passports to facilitate drug trafficking operations across Thailand, Pakistan, Iran, and West Africa.
Sylvanus reportedly confessed that he turned to full-time drug trafficking in 2017 after his clothing and shoe business failed.
Lagos Arrest: Madagascar Returnee
The second suspect, James Chinoso, 48, was apprehended on February 1, 2025, at Lagos airport after arriving from Madagascar via Ethiopia on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
“A body scan confirmed he had illicit drugs in his system. Under observation, he excreted 63 wraps of heroin weighing 909 grams,” Babafemi stated.
Chinoso’s Arrest
Chinoso reportedly left Lagos for Madagascar on January 26, 2025, and returned a week later.
“He claimed he turned to drug trafficking after his phone accessories business in Liberia collapsed,” Babafemi added.
Courier and Highway Operations
In a separate operation on February 6, NDLEA operatives from the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation seized 2.82 kilograms of Loud, a synthetic cannabis strain, smuggled from the United States and intended for Lagos.
That same day, another logistics company in Lagos was found shipping 80 ampoules of pentazocine injection (225 grams) concealed in cartons destined for Canada.
Kano Arrests
On February 3, in Kano, NDLEA operatives arrested Usaini Salisu and Yahaya Mu’azu, both 23, at Gadar Tamburawa along Zaria Road, recovering 15,396 tramadol pills hidden in a gas cylinder.
In a separate operation in Sabon Gari, Kano, 35-year-old Chioma Okeke was arrested with 27 blocks of skunk, weighing 15 kg of cannabis.
Kogi and Jigawa Interceptions
On February 8, NDLEA officers intercepted 12,800 tramadol 250mg pills along the Kabba-Obajana Highway in Kogi State, arresting 33-year-old Salisu Basiru.
On the same day, 65 parcels of Colorado (1.6 kg of synthetic cannabis) were recovered from 32-year-old Rufai Hassan at a checkpoint, en route to Jigawa State.
The NDLEA, in the statement, pledged to ramp up efforts in cracking down on drug syndicates across the country.
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