The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested two men who returned from Brazil after excreting a total of 116 wraps of heroin and cocaine they ingested.
NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi said in a statement on Sunday that the suspects were placed under observation after their arrest at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
According to Babafemi, one of the suspects was caught on Tuesday, September 16, at Terminal 2 of the airport after arriving from Brazil on an Ethiopian Airlines flight. A body scan confirmed that he had swallowed drugs.
He was later linked to 55-year-old Nweke Chuckwudi, who was supposed to help recover the drugs at a hotel in Amuwo Odofin, Lagos.
“A total of 111 wraps of heroin weighing 1.452 kilograms were egested in eight excretions by Ofoma. Nweke was arrested in the process,” Babafemi said.
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In a separate operation on Friday, September 19, NDLEA operatives also arrested another Brazil returnee during passenger clearance at the Lagos airport. A body scan showed he had hidden cocaine inside his body.
Babafemi explained that the suspect excreted five large wraps of cocaine weighing 145 grams.
“In his statement, he confessed to buying nine wraps of cocaine in Brazil and inserted them into his anus. He said the process took him nearly two hours,” Babafemi revealed.
The suspect said he experienced severe anal pain during a stopover in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and removed some of the wraps.
“He could only reinsert seven wraps and flushed two in the toilet. Later, while on board the flight to Nigeria, he expelled two more wraps, leaving only five inside him,” Babafemi said.
The man also told investigators that he once lived in the United States but was deported in 2022 after being detained for an immigration offence. He later returned to Brazil in March 2025, where he obtained a residence permit.
Babafemi said the agency remains committed to tracking down drug traffickers and stopping narcotics from entering the country.