Nigeria busts drug syndicates shipping cocaine in phone chargers, backpacks to Saudi Arabia, Europe

Nigeria's National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has disrupted several drug trafficking attempts, seizing significant quantities of cocaine and cannabis. Operatives intercepted cocaine hidden in phone chargers and a backpack destined for international markets in Saudi Arabia and Italy.

In a separate operation, a 30-year-old businessman, Joseph Cyril, who had recently arrived from Italy, was arrested at Enugu's Akanu Ibiam International Airport. He was apprehended for ingesting 98 wraps of cocaine, weighing 1.510kg, while attempting to travel to Italy via Ethiopia and France. Cyril reportedly confessed to agreeing to transport the drugs for €3,500 to fund his relocation to Germany.

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the suspect was arrested at the departure hall of the airport on Sunday, August 2, during the outward clearance of passengers on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.

The NDLEA's intensified efforts also led to the interception of a truck carrying 1,633kg of skunk concealed in rice chaff along the Akure-Ilesha Expressway. Two suspects were arrested in connection with this seizure. Further raids in Ita Ogbolu Forest recovered 147kg of skunk, while in Oyo State, a drug warehouse in Elebure village yielded 731.03kg of cannabis and one arrest. Operations in Edo and Abia states also resulted in the seizure of hundreds of kilograms of cannabis and arrests of suspected drug dealers.

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he had been doing business in Italy for years before agreeing to transport the drug for €3,500 to raise money to relocate to Germany, where his family is based.