Brazil Returnee Arrested with Cocaine in Private Part

By Oluwakemi Kindness 

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a Brazil-based Nigerian businessman, Uche Franklin Onyekwere, for concealing 1.60 kilograms of cocaine in his private part and inside the soles of his footwear at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.

The NDLEA in a statement on Sunday says the 47-year-old was intercepted on Thursday, 29 January 2026, during the inward clearance of South African Airways passengers arriving from Brazil via Johannesburg.

The statement by it Spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, notes that a full body scan confirmed the drug concealment, leading to a strip search that uncovered one large wrap tied around his thigh and two additional wraps hidden in his shoes.

During preliminary interrogation, Onyekwere claimed he purchased the drugs in Brazil to resell in Nigeria to fund his business and the naming ceremony of his newborn child.

In a separate operation at Tincan Port, Lagos, NDLEA officers, working with Customs and other security agencies, uncovered 55 jumbo bags of Canadian Loud weighing 1,183kg.

The drugs, imported from Montreal, Canada, were concealed inside a Hyundai SUV and a Toyota Matrix.

Across Niger, Edo, Anambra, Ondo, and Kano States, operatives also carried out major raids that collectively yielded more than 9,939kg of Loud, Colos, and Skunk.

In Niger State, three suspects, Andy Chidogu, Kenneth Ogene, and Sadiq Olanrewaju—were arrested along the Dei-Dei–Abuja expressway while conveying 176 bags of skunk weighing 2,735kg and 1kg of Colorado in a long truck.

Investigations revealed the driver negotiated a fee of N1.7 million to haul the illicit substances.

In Edo State, officers arrested Shaibu Yusuf along the Auchi–Abuja road with 66 bags of skunk weighing 792kg.

Another operation, supported by the Nigerian Army, led to the destruction of a 1.6-hectare cannabis farm at Ebora Camp, Ilushi, where 4,063.675kg of skunk was destroyed and 328kg of processed cannabis recovered.

Four suspects were arrested at the farm.

In Anambra, NDLEA operatives intercepted a cement truck at Upper Iweka, Onitsha, discovering 345.2kg of skunk concealed under bags of cement.

The owner, Abum Okeke, was arrested.

In Ondo State, two suspects were arrested in Eleyewo community over 473kg of skunk, while in Kano, Abdullahi Usman was caught with 12,500 ampoules of pentazocine injection, and another suspect, Musa Shuaibu, was found with 4,390 tramadol pills.

NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended officers across MMIA, Tincan, Niger, Lagos, Edo, Anambra, Ondo, and Kano Commands for their professionalism and urged them to sustain the balanced approach to drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction.