NDLEA tracks convicted cocaine trafficker through new identity and legitimate business front

A convicted cocaine trafficker allegedly returned to the drug trade under a new name and behind a legitimate business identity. Nigeria's National Drug Law Enforcement Agency arrested 34-year-old Dunu Ebubechukwu in Lagos after tracing a cocaine shipment bound for Saudi Arabia.

The case began on July 31, when NDLEA officers intercepted 1.2 kilograms of cocaine hidden inside phone chargers at a Lagos courier company. The parcel was reportedly headed to Riyadh. Investigators followed the shipment's trail rather than stopping at the seizure, eventually arresting Ebubechukwu on September 4 at Article Market, opposite Trade Fair Market in Ojo.

According to agency spokesperson Femi Babafemi, Ebubechukwu presented himself as an herbal tea businessman. A search of his home in Ejigbo found phone chargers similar to those used in the intercepted shipment, with their internal components removed to create space for drugs.

NDLEA said Ebubechukwu had previously been arrested at Lagos' Murtala Muhammed International Airport in 2011 after ingesting 900 grams of cocaine and 130 grams of heroin while attempting to travel to Austria. He was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison. The agency said he later changed his name from Dunu Chukwuyenre Enoch to Dunu Bethel Ebubechukwu and allegedly resumed trafficking.

The arrest came during NDLEA operations in nine states involving cannabis, opioids, methamphetamine, cocaine, codeine and other controlled substances. At Lagos airport, officers seized 966,200 Tramadol 225mg tablets worth more than 1.1 billion naira, concealed among secondhand trousers from Pakistan. A shipment from Singapore contained 57.8 kilograms of Loud, a synthetic cannabis strain valued at more than 173 million naira, hidden in cartons of disposable gloves. In Ondo State, officers pursued a 20,000-liter fuel tanker that allegedly refused to stop. Its driver abandoned it at a church in Ugbe Akoko and escaped into the bush.