National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 38-year-old businessman, Philip Tunde, with 4.80 kilogrammes of cocaine allegedly concealed in the soles of shoes and the railings of travelling bags at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
Gatekeepers News reports that according to NDLEA, Tunde was arrested on September 27, 2026, at the joint screening point of Terminal 2 while preparing to board a Royal Air Maroc flight to Milan, Italy.
A search of his luggage led to the recovery of 16 parcels of a white powdery substance hidden in the soles of eight pairs of trainers and canvas shoes. Another 195 wraps were allegedly concealed in the railings of four travelling bags. The substances tested positive for cocaine and weighed a combined 4.80kg.
The NDLEA said the suspect told investigators that he paid N16 million in cash for the cocaine concealed in the shoes, while the consignment in the bags was intended for delivery to his partner in Italy.
Tunde reportedly said he raised the money from compensation he received after sustaining an injury while working at a plastic manufacturing company in Italy, where he lost the tips of two fingers.
The agency also reported other major drug interceptions at seaports in Lagos and Rivers State. At the Apapa port, operatives recovered 124kg of Thai Loud, valued at N372 million, from a container shipped from Bangkok.
At the Onne Port in Rivers State, NDLEA operatives recovered 22kg of Loud and 109,600 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup weighing 16,440kg from two watch-listed containers. The agency said the consignments intercepted at Onne had a combined street value of N833.2 million.
At the Tin Can Island Port in Lagos, officers also seized 2,595 parcels of Canadian Loud weighing 1,297.5kg. The agency valued the consignment at more than N3.8 billion.
NDLEA said the various operations followed intelligence gathering and tracking of drug shipments from their points of origin.
Overall, the agency said the seizures at the ports involved Loud cannabis and codeine-based syrup worth more than N5 billion, in addition to the cocaine recovered from the Italy-bound passenger.
