Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested former international footballer Segun George Hunkarin and his partner, businessman Ntoruka Emmanuel Chinedu, for attempting to smuggle cocaine into Nigeria through Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
Gatekeepers News reports that this was announced in a statement by Femi Babafemi, Director of Media and Advocacy NDLEA Headquarters Abuja on Sunday 29th June 2025.
Chinedu, a frequent traveler between Turkey and Nigeria, was caught on Tuesday, 24th June, with 37 wraps of cocaine weighing 800 grams hidden in his hand luggage.
He confessed to collecting the consignment in Addis Ababa en route from Turkey. Hunkarin, who was waiting at the MMIA car park to receive the drugs, was subsequently arrested.
The suspect also admitted to past drug trafficking activities between Brazil and Ethiopia during his football career.
Also on Friday, 27th June, Europe-based businessman Amen Okoro Godstime was arrested at the Lagos airport for attempting to traffic 5,000 pills of tramadol disguised as malaria drugs to Spain. He planned to send the pills to Italy for sale.
In a separate operation at Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, NDLEA operatives arrested 38-year-old Chibuzor Emmanuel Ezenwaka from Mozambique.
Ezenwaka’s luggage was found to contain 17.5kg of methamphetamine and 3.05kg of cocaine concealed in bedsheets.
Another passenger from the same flight, 54-year-old Azu Follygan Kpodar, was found with 1.25kg of liquid cocaine hidden in a soap container. Kpodar claimed to be a toy seller from Brazil visiting for his wedding.
Operatives of NDLEA also arrested a Beninese national, Vode Jean-Luck, at the Seme border with 29.5kg of skunk hidden in 69 balls.
In Kwara State, notorious drug dealer Mary Bolanle Oladele (aka Iya Nafi) was apprehended in Omu-Aran with quantities of skunk, tramadol, and flunitrazepam.
In Delta State, 72-year-old Christy Ejaro was arrested in Warri with sachets of retail-packaged skunk.
Babafemi noted that NDLEA’s War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy efforts continued nationwide, with sensitization campaigns in schools across Katsina, Oyo, Abia, Enugu, Bayelsa, and Ekiti states.
NDLEA Chairman/CEO, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the officers and men of MMIA, AIIA, Delta, Kwara, and Seme Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures of the past week.
He also praised their counterparts in all the commands across the country for ensuring a fair balance between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.
