Nigeria’s NDLEA and DSS seize drugs and intercept arms shipments

Nigeria’s drug enforcement agency (NDLEA) arrested Brazil‑based businessman Abugu Oliver Ikechukwu at Lagos’s Murtala Muhammed International Airport after a search uncovered 14 shirts and towels soaked in 6.10 kg of liquid cocaine. The agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said, “A 41‑year‑old São Paulo, Brazil‑based businessman … has been arrested … for importing shirts and towels impregnated with 6.10 kg of liquid cocaine.” The operation is part of a wider crackdown that also saw the detention of other drug suspects and the seizure of large quantities of cannabis, skunk and other narcotics across several Nigerian states.

In a separate security operation, the Department of State Services (DSS) apprehended an arms courier in Kano State’s Gezawa district. The suspect was caught while transporting three AK‑47 rifles, four rocket‑propelled‑grenade tubes and warheads, and two empty magazines from Jigawa to Katsina for delivery to a bandit leader in Zamfara. The DSS report stated, “Items recovered from the suspect include three AK‑47 rifles, four RPG tubes and warheads.” The arrest is described as a breakthrough in efforts to disrupt the supply of weapons fueling banditry and kidnapping in north‑west Nigeria.