NDLEA
NDLEA Arrests Turkey-Bound Angolan Businessman, Others for Drug Trafficking
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has apprehended a 42-year-old Angolan businessman, Mbala Dajou Abuba, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano for attempting to traffic a large quantity of cocaine by ingesting it.
The arrest was disclosed by NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi in a statement shared with Channels Television on Sunday.
Abuba, a resident of Zaire province in Angola, was arrested on Tuesday, February 25, 2025, at the airport’s screening point while attempting to board an Egypt Air flight (MS 880) to Istanbul, Turkey, via Cairo.
A body scan confirmed he had ingested illicit drugs, leading to his placement under excretion observation. During this period, he expelled 120 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.829 kilograms in seven excretions. In his statement, Abuba claimed he previously operated a township delivery service in Angola before venturing into the illegal drug trade.
In a related incident, NDLEA operatives thwarted an attempt by auto spare parts dealer Okeke Ebuka Igwe to traffic 1.10kg of cocaine concealed in vehicle propellers. Igwe was arrested on Monday, February 24, at the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos, following credible intelligence.
During interrogation, Igwe stated that he runs an auto parts business at the ASPANDA Trade Fair Complex in the Ojo area of Lagos.
Another suspect, Ezechi Iyke Cyprian, was arrested on Sunday, February 23, while attempting to transport 5.40 kilograms of cocaine to Owerri, Imo State, in his Toyota Sienna bus.
His arrest followed weeks of intelligence gathering and surveillance by a special operations unit of the NDLEA.
Additionally, at the Tincan seaport in Lagos, NDLEA operatives, in collaboration with Customs and other security agencies, discovered 128 parcels of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, concealed in two mattresses within a Toyota Venza car imported from Canada.
The 63.75kg consignment was found during a joint examination of a targeted container (TCNU 1945861) from Montreal, Canada.
The consignee, 44-year-old Bamidele Joseph, has been arrested and taken into custody.
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