Nigerian drug enforcement operatives intercepted an Italy-bound traveler carrying 4.8 kilograms of cocaine hidden in shoe soles and luggage frames at Lagos airport, part of a nationwide crackdown that yielded over 5 billion naira ($3.08 million) in narcotics seizures, the agency said on Sunday.
The suspect, identified by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) as 38-year-old businessman Philip Tunde, was arrested Sept. 27 at Murtala Muhammed International Airport while attempting to board a Royal Air Maroc flight to Milan. Officers recovered 16 parcels of cocaine stashed inside eight pairs of shoes and 195 wraps embedded in the railings of four travel bags.
According to the agency, Tunde claimed to have paid 16 million naira in cash for a portion of the drugs using funds received as compensation for a workplace injury in Italy.
The airport arrest coincided with major intelligence-led seizures at Nigeria’s principal seaports, where authorities intercepted shipments of imported high-potency cannabis strains and codeine syrup valued at more than 5 billion naira.
At the Tincan Island port in Lagos, agents uncovered 1,297.5 kg of Canadian cannabis—known locally as “Loud”—concealed inside imported vehicles and storage containers shipped from Montreal. Port searches at Apapa in Lagos and Onne in Rivers State yielded additional shipments of imported cannabis from Thailand and 109,600 bottles of codeine-based syrup originating from India.
In nationwide raids over the past week, NDLEA operatives also destroyed over 20 tonnes of cannabis cultivated on an eight-hectare farm in Osun State and recovered quantities of tramadol, methamphetamine, and synthetic opioids across Edo, Kogi, Plateau, and Abuja.
Authorities also confirmed the arrest of Idris Mohammed Kurra, 47, a fugitive who had been evading trial since jumping court bail in December 2020 over a 198-kg cannabis trafficking charge.
