The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has announced the arrest of 42-year-old Angolan businessman Mbala Dajou Abuba at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano. Abuba, who was en route to Turkey, was apprehended for attempting to smuggle a large quantity of cocaine that he had ingested.
NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, revealed this information in a statement shared with Channels Television on Sunday.
According to Babafemi, Abuba, who hails from the Zaire province of Angola, was arrested on Tuesday, February 25, 2025, at the airport’s screening point while attempting to board Egypt Air flight MS 880 bound for Istanbul, Turkey, via Cairo.
“After his body scan result confirmed he ingested illicit drug, he was thereafter placed under excretion observation during which he expelled 120 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.829 kilograms in seven excretions.
“In his statement, the suspect claimed he was into the business of township delivery services in Angola before delving into the illicit drug trade,” the statement said.
It added that a similar attempt by an auto spare parts dealer, Okeke Ebuka Igwe, to send two parcels of 1.10kg cocaine concealed in vehicle propellers to Angola through the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja Lagos, was thwarted by NDLEA operatives who arrested him on Monday 24th February following credible intelligence.
Babafemi said that during an interview with the suspect, he claimed that he is a businessman selling auto parts in ASPANDA, Trade Fair Complex, Ojo area of Lagos.
“A bid by another suspect, Ezechi Iyke Cyprian to move a large consignment of cocaine weighing 5.40 kilograms to Owerri, Imo state in his Toyota Sienna bus on Sunday 23rd February was frustrated by operatives of a special operations unit of NDLEA who arrested him following weeks of intelligence and surveillance.
“At the Tincan seaport in Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Friday 28th February discovered a total of 128 parcels of Canadian Loud, a strong strain of cannabis concealed in two matrasses in the trunk of a Toyota Venza car imported from Canada.
“The discovery of the 63.75kg consignment was made during a joint examination of a targeted container marked TCNU 1945861 from Montreal, Canada, by NDLEA, Customs and other security agencies. The consignee of the shipment, 44-year-old Bamidele Joseph has been arrested and taken into custody,” the statement added.