The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Sunday announced the arrest of an ex-international football player, Segun George Hunkarin, and his alleged accomplice, Ntoruka Emmanuel Chinedu, following a failed attempt to smuggle a consignment of cocaine into Nigeria through the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja, Lagos.
According to the agency, Chinedu, a frequent flyer known for transporting clothes from Turkey to Nigeria and foodstuffs from Nigeria to Turkey, was the first to be arrested upon his arrival at the Lagos airport Tuesday, 24th June 2025.
In an e-statement obtained by Blueprint, the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said: “A search of his carry-on bag revealed 37 wraps of cocaine weighing 800 grams were concealed therein.
“Investigation showed that the suspect was coming from Turkey on an Ethiopian Airlines flight but transited through Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he collected the luggage from another person before heading to Nigeria.
“Further checks revealed that an accomplice, who turned out to be the former professional footballer Segun Hunkarin, was waiting for Chinedu at the airport car park to collect the consignment from him.
“Hunkarin, who had stayed years in Brazil playing for football clubs, was promptly tracked and arrested at the car park.
“In his statement, Hunkarin claimed that while playing professional football in the South American country, he had only trafficked drugs twice from Brazil to Ethiopia but had never brought any to Nigeria.
“Another Europe-based businessman, Amen Okoro Godstime, was on Friday, 27th June, arrested by NDLEA operatives at the Lagos airport while attempting to traffic 5,000 pills of tramadol 225mg packaged as known malaria drugs such as Lonart, Amatem and Aluktem to Spain.
“He was intercepted at the departure hall of terminal 2 of the airport during the outward clearance of passengers on Royal Air Maroc flight to Spain through Casablanca.
“Okoro, who is into freight and logistics business between Europe and Nigeria, claimed that on his arrival in Spain, he would to a train to France, where he resides and from there, send the tramadol consignment to Italy for retailing.
“At the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA) Enugu, NDLEA operatives on Friday 27th June intercepted a Maputo, Mozambique based bar attendant Ezenwaka Chibuzor Emmanuel.
“A search of his luggage led to the discovery of 17 cardboard size parcels of methamphetamine weighing 17.500 kilograms and three parcels of cocaine weighing 3.050 kilograms.
“The 38-year-old suspect was coming from Johannesburg, South Africa via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on an Ethiopian Airlines flight when he was interdicted and subjected to a search during which the illicit drugs concealed in bedsheets packed in his bags were discovered.”
In a related development, the NDLEA said: “Another passenger on board the same Ethiopian Airlines flight, 54-year-old Azu Follygan Kpodar was also intercepted at the Enugu airport by NDLEA operatives.
“When Azu, who arrived from Sao Paulo, Brazil, was searched, a liquid soap plastic container marked YPE, was discovered in his luggage. The substance was promptly taken for analysis at the NDLEA forensic and chemical laboratory, Enugu where the substance tested positive to cocaine.”
At the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA) Enugu, the NDLEA operatives said it also intercepted a Maputo, Mozambique-based bar attendant, one Ezenwaka Chibuzor Emmanuel.
It said that a search of his luggage led to the discovery of cardboard-sized parcels of methamphetamine weighing 17.500 kilograms and three parcels of cocaine weighing 3.050 kilograms.
In another separate operation, the NDLEA said its operatives at the Seme border area of Badagry in Lagos Tuesday, 24th June, intercepted a 26-year-old Beninese Vode Jean-Luck while trying to smuggle 69 balls of skunk, a strain of cannabis with a gross weight of 29.5kg, from Benin Republic into Nigeria.
Similarly, in Kwara state, it said a notorious drug dealer, Mary Bolanle Oladele (a.k.a Iya Nafi), was arrested on Wednesday, 25th June, when NDLEA operatives raided her base in Omu-Aran in Irepodun Local Government Area, where various quantities of skunk, tramadol and flunitrazepam were recovered from her.