Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have arrested a 55-year-old Lagos businessman, Onuigbo Ndubisi Chinedu, for allegedly attempting to export 3.30 kilograms of cocaine hidden inside the walls of cartons used to package food items for shipment to the United Kingdom.
Chinedu, a clothing dealer at the popular Balogun Market on Lagos Island, was arrested on Thursday, July 23, 2026, after NDLEA operatives intercepted the drug consignment at the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, a day earlier.
According to a statement by the agency, investigations initially led to the arrest of three cargo agents identified as Nkwor Onyekachukwu Justina, Adeleke Abiola Taoheed and Ukanwa Grace Pilgrim, who handled the shipment.
Their arrest later resulted in the apprehension of Kenneth Okakpu, who delivered the consignment to the cargo agents for onward shipment to the UK.
The agency said Okakpu’s arrest eventually exposed Chinedu as the alleged kingpin behind the drug trafficking syndicate. He was subsequently arrested while allegedly making another attempt to send a fresh cocaine consignment to the United Kingdom.
In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives on Tuesday, July 21, arrested a 31-year-old entrepreneur, Emmanuella Chukwu-Edo, at her residence in Surulere, Lagos.
The arrest followed the seizure of her consignment containing 2.80kg of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, which arrived from the United States aboard a United Airlines flight on Monday, July 20.
Also at the Lagos airport, NDLEA recovered a shipment containing 2,240,000 pills of Tapentadol 250mg, estimated to have a
