Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) successfully intercepted attempts by two drug kingpins to smuggle heroin into Nigeria via the Port Harcourt International Airport and the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA).
The smuggling efforts were foiled on February 2 at the Port Harcourt Airport and February 1 at the Lagos Airport.
NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said:”One of the kingpins, who uses dual identities to aid his cross-border movements, holds a Nigerian passport under his original name, Onyekwonike Elochuckwu Sylvanus, 30, and a Sierra Leonean passport under a different name, Kargbo Mohamed Foday.
“He was intercepted by NDLEA officers with his Sierra Leonean passport on Sunday, 2nd February 2025, at Port Harcourt Airport, Rivers State, during the inward clearance of passengers on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha via Abuja.
“A body scan confirmed he had ingested illicit drugs, leading to his placement under excretion observation. He subsequently expelled a total of 62 wraps of heroin in five excretions, weighing 1.348 kilograms.
“Investigations reveal that Onyekwonike Elochuckwu Sylvanus (alias Kargbo Mohamed Foday) alternates between his two identities for various drug trafficking missions between Thailand, Pakistan, Iran, and West African countries. He admitted to engaging full-time in the illicit drug trade since 2017 after his clothing and shoe business collapsed.”
The second kingpin, James Herbert Chinoso, 48, was arrested by NDLEA operatives at Lagos Airport on Saturday, 1st February, upon arrival from Madagascar via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
“After a body scan confirmed the presence of illicit drugs in his system, he was placed under excretion observation, during which he expelled 63 wraps of heroin, totaling 909 grams.
“Chinoso had departed Lagos for Madagascar on 26th January 2025 and returned via Addis Ababa after spending a week. He claimed to have ventured into drug trafficking after his phone accessories business in Liberia collapsed.”
“In a separate interdiction operation on the same day, but at a different logistics company in Lagos, anti-narcotics officers intercepted 80 ampoules of pentazocine injection (225 grams) concealed in cartons bound for Canada.
“In Kano, NDLEA operatives arrested Usaini Salisu and Yahaya Mu’azu, both 23, on Monday, 3rd February, at Gadar Tamburawa along Zaria Road, where they recovered 15,396 pills of tramadol hidden inside a gas cylinder.
“In another operation that same day, operatives apprehended a female suspect, Chioma Okeke, 35, with 27 blocks of skunk, a strain of cannabis weighing 15 kilograms, at the Sabon Gari area of Kano.
“Additionally, a consignment of 12,800 tramadol 250mg pills, en route to Shuwarin, Jigawa State, was intercepted by NDLEA officers on patrol along the Kabba-Obajana highway in Kogi State on Saturday, 8th February. A suspect, Salisu Basiru, 33, was arrested in connection with the drugs.
“Similarly, 65 parcels of Colorado, a strong synthetic strain of cannabis weighing 1.6 kilograms, also headed for Jigawa State, were recovered from another suspect, Rufai Hassan, 32, at the same checkpoint on the same day.”
Meanwhile, NDLEA Commands and formations across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces, and communities over the past week.
These initiatives included WADA enlightenment lectures at: Saint Secondary School, Abakaliki, Ebonyi; Taangayar Malam Abubakar Bichi, an Almajiri school, Bichi, Kano; Federal Government Girls College, Calabar, Cross River; College of Nursing and Science, Birnin Kebbi; Meiran Community Junior Secondary School, Abule Egba, Lagos; Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the officers and men of MMIA, PHIA, DOGI, Kano, and Kogi Commands for their arrests and seizures.
He emphasised that their operational successes, along with the efforts of their counterparts across the country, reflect a well-balanced approach to both drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction strategies.