A 59-year-old businessman Chijioke Nnanna Igbokwe has undergone surgery to remove 57 out of 81 pellets of cocaine stuck in his stomach after seven days of ingesting the illicit substance in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Igbokwe was arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the arrival hall of Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos, during the inward clearance of Ethiopian Airlines passengers on Sunday, January 26, 2025.
According to Femi Babafemi, NDLEA Director of Media & Advocacy, in a statement on Sunday, a body scan revealed the illicit drugs in his system, leading to his detention for excretion observation.
Investigation revealed that Igbokwe, who claimed to be in the clothing business in Oshodi, Lagos, had left Nigeria on January 22 for Addis Ababa.
There, he ingested 81 wraps of cocaine on January 23 before boarding a flight to Beirut, Lebanon, where he was to deliver the drugs for $3,000.
Upon his arrival in Beirut, he was denied entry due to having less than $2,000, the minimum required. Deported to Addis Ababa, he attempted excreting the drugs but failed. He then proceeded to Lagos on January 25 but was arrested upon arrival.
“After five days under excretion observation, he could only expel 24 pellets following initial medical intervention at the Agency’s medical facility and the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) Ikeja,” NDLEA stated.
“With the clock ticking for him and the complication of other underlying medical conditions, the suspect was eventually admitted at the tertiary facility where he had to undergo exploratory laparotomy to extract the remaining 57 wraps of cocaine stuck in his stomach after his wife and brother endorsed the necessary consent forms on Thursday, 30th January.”
A total of 81 cocaine pellets, weighing 1.943 kilograms, were recovered from his stomach.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives also intercepted a 2,000kg consignment of Ghanaian Loud cannabis at Lekki beach in Lagos on January 29.
Two suspects, Sunday Awoyede and Christopher Cletus, were caught loading the drugs into a truck. Another suspect, Lawal Idris Olasunkanmi, was also arrested the same day with 55kg of skunk in Mushin, Lagos.
