The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested two Nigerians residing in Europe after they allegedly swallowed 200 wraps of cocaine weighing 3.46 kg while trying to travel from Abuja to Paris, France.
The suspects, named Aliocus Odife and Sam Blackborn, were taken into custody on Wednesday, October 28, during the outward clearance of an Air France flight, AF 832, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
In a statement issued on Sunday by its spokesman, Femi Babafemi, the NDLEA said the suspects, who had come back to Nigeria for holidays, were arrested after body scans confirmed they had ingested illicit substances.
Babafemi said Odife, who resides in France and works in a factory, arrived in Nigeria on October 21 for a short holiday but was arrested while trying to return to Europe.
He said he admitted to ingesting 110 wraps of cocaine, which he later excreted under observation. The drugs weighed 1.901 kg.
The statement partly read, “Two Europe-based Nigerian businessmen who flew home on holiday and attempted to return to Paris, France, with their bellies loaded with cocaine have been arrested by operatives of the NDLEA at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.”
“The duo, Aliocus Godian Odife and Sam Blackborn, were intercepted on Wednesday, 28th October 2026, during the outward clearance of Air France flight AF 832 from Abuja to Paris. Both men have excreted a total of 200 wraps of the Class A drug weighing 3.460 kilograms.
“Odife, who claims to live in France where he works in a factory, had arrived in Nigeria for a short holiday on 21st October.
“He was, however, arrested by NDLEA operatives on his return flight a few days later, when he was subjected to a body scan, which confirmed the presence of foreign objects in his stomach.
“Under interview, he admitted to having ingested 110 pellets of cocaine. He was placed under observation, during which he excreted all 110 wraps, which tested positive for cocaine with a total weight of 1.901 kilograms.”
Babafemi stated that his fellow traveler, Blackborn, likewise tested positive during a body scan and admitted to swallowing 90 wraps of cocaine.
According to the agency, he excreted all the waste while under observation, and the substances weighed 1.559 kg.
The NDLEA likewise reported multiple drug seizures and arrests nationwide, including the recovery of 976 kg of cannabis from two commercial buses in Lagos.
In Oyo State, two suspects, Oguntona Nasiru, 46, and Soji Balogun, 47, were arrested on Thursday, October 29, as they allegedly loaded 554 kg of cannabis into a truck along Idere Road, Igboora.
In Kano State, operatives recovered 247,500 tablets of diazepam weighing 57.7 kg and 100,000 tablets of Exol-5 weighing 38.7 kg in a raid in the Tsamiya area of Gezawa.
The agency also arrested two men who had 19,250 pills of tramadol in Dorayi, Kano.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives patrolling the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway arrested a woman, Aisha Isah, who had 266 rounds of live AK-47 ammunition.
In a separate operation along the Zaria-Kano Expressway, a 68-year-old man, Ifeanyi Egwolonwu, was arrested with 2,770 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 100 ampoules of diazepam injection, 11,000 tablets of diazepam, and 4,500 tablets of Exol-5.
In the statement, Babafemi quoted the agency’s chairman, Brig-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), as cautioning Nigerians living abroad against using their overseas residence as a cover for drug trafficking.
Marwa said, “The interception of the two cocaine couriers at Abuja airport is a fresh warning to those who think they can use their residence abroad as cover to traffic drugs across Nigerian borders.”
He also stated that NDLEA operatives at all entry and exit points remained vigilant.
“There is no hiding place for anyone who chooses to risk their life and liberty by ingesting illicit drugs for a fee,” he said.
The NDLEA chairman praised officers from the agency’s commands in Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto, Ondo, Oyo, and Edo states for the arrests and seizures made.
He further called on the officers to keep up the fight against drug trafficking and to step up drug demand reduction campaigns under the War Against Drug Abuse initiative.
