The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency recently rescued a 59-year-old businessman named Chijioke Igbokwe. He had undergone emergency surgery to remove 57 out of 81 pellets of cocaine from his stomach. Igbokwe had ingested the illicit substance in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and struggled to excrete them for seven days before the surgery.
According to the agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, Igbokwe was apprehended at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on January 26, 2025. He was on an Ethiopian Airlines flight, and a body scan by NDLEA officers confirmed the presence of illicit drugs in his system. After unsuccessful attempts to excrete the drugs, he underwent surgery to remove them.
Igbokwe had ingested the wraps of cocaine in Addis Ababa before heading to Beirut, Lebanon, to deliver the consignment for a fee. However, he was denied entry to Beirut due to insufficient funds and was deported back to Addis Ababa. He then returned to Lagos with the drugs still in his system and was arrested upon arrival.
In total, 81 cocaine pellets weighing 1.943 kilograms were recovered from Igbokwe’s body. In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives intercepted a shipment of Ghanaian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, at Lekki Beach. Two suspects were arrested while trying to load the drugs onto a truck, and another suspect was apprehended in the Mushin area of Lagos with 55kg of skunk during a raid.