… London-bound cocaine consignment sent by convicted drug kingpin intercepted

A China-based Nigerian businessman, Ibeanu Vincent Chukwudulue and two Angolan citizens: Mbandu Martins Makiadi and Ngoma Wilson Fernando have excreted a total of 236 wraps of cocaine following their arrest by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja and Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, respectively.

The 34-year-old Ibeanu was arrested on Wednesday 4th February 2026 while on board a Qatar Airways flight 1432, from Kano to China enroute Abuja/Doha. Acting on credible intelligence, NDLEA operatives at the Abuja airport demanded that the suspect be deboarded following which he was taken for body scan. The result confirmed the suspect ingested illicit drug.

A statement released on Sunday by the agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said the suspect was placed under observation during which he excreted a total of 52 pellets of cocaine that weighed 735.95 grams. In his statement, Ibeanu said he was into business on Lagos Island before relocating to Guanzhou, China in 2024.

Similarly, the duo of Mbandu Martins Makiadi, 50, and Ngoma Wilson Fernando, 52, both Angolans were intercepted on Wednesday 4th February at the screening point of the departure hall of Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano during the outward clearance of passengers going to Istanbul, Turkey via Addis Ababa on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET940.

“When they were taken for body scan, they tested positive for ingesting illicit drug. As a result, they were kept under observation for possible excretion. While Mbandu excreted a total of 76 wraps weighing 920 grams in seven excretions, Ngoma expelled 108 pellets that weighed 1.33 kilograms in five excretions.

“During interview, the suspects who hail from Hoji Ya Henda in Luanda, the capital of Angola claimed they were recruited by a Luanda-based automobile spare parts dealer who promised to pay them $3000 each upon successful delivery of the consignments in Turkey,” Babafemi stated.

Meanwhile, an attempt by a convicted drug kingpin Olashupo Michael Oladimeji to export 1.10 kilograms of cocaine concealed in processed cassava granules, popularly known as Garri to London, United Kingdom, on a Virgin Atlantic flight, has been thwarted by NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja Lagos.

Babafemi said: “Olashupo is presently serving a five-year jail term at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre, Lagos, after NDLEA arrested him in 2025 in connection with a case of unlawful conspiracy to export 17.90kg cocaine, and was successfully prosecuted, convicted and sentenced in charge number FHC/L/925C/2025, by a Federal High Court in Lagos.

“Not ready to give up on his criminal enterprise, the convict who is the Chief Executive Officer of Dimeji Express Logistics, located at 20 Omilade Street, Mafoluku, Oshodi, Lagos, initiated the latest scheme from behind the prison wall to export the 1.10kg cocaine, using his company.

“His lid was, however, uncovered on Thursday 12th February when NDLEA officers at the export shed of the Lagos airport intercepted a consignment of compressed block of cocaine, hidden in a sack of Garri which was further packed inside a carton.

“A staff of Dimeji Express Logistics, Adedeji Yusuf Gbolahan who presented the consignment for export was promptly arrested. Investigations revealed that Olashupo Michael Oladimeji, initiated the trafficking scheme from prison and directed Yusuf to pick the consignment at a location in Oshodi.”

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has warned Nigerians to remain vigilant after operatives uncovered illicit substances concealed in children’s toys and garri.

The agency disclosed this in a statement shared by the Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, on X on Sunday, noting that the discovery highlights the increasingly desperate tactics adopted by drug traffickers to move illegal consignments.

Babafemi said consignments of methamphetamine were concealed inside Hollandia yoghurt packs and MP3 players, a tactic uncovered by NDLEA operatives during recent operations.

Sharing videos, Babafemi wrote, “Narco-trends: FYI, children’s toys and our popular cassava granules (Garri) are not spared in their desperation to conceal and traffic illicit substances. Please beware and take a look at how #ndlea_nigeria officers discovered this.”

A man was killed on Thursday morning while his wife was critically injured after a granite-laden truck toppled onto their Toyota saloon car at Eleko Junction along the Lekki–Ajah Expressway, Lagos State.

A statement signed by the Director, Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department of LASTMA, Adebayo Taofiq, disclosed.

“Preliminary security briefings reveal that an articulated truck, heavily burdened with granite and travelling at an inordinate speed from the Epe axis, was approaching Eleko Junction when it reportedly experienced a catastrophic brake malfunction.

“The mechanical failure precipitated an abrupt loss of vehicular control, causing the truck to career off its designated path and collide forcefully with a Toyota saloon car travelling from Ajah inward Epe,” the statement partly read.

LASTMA said the impact caused the truck to overturn and crush the smaller vehicle, trapping the driver inside the wreckage.

Officials of the agency and the Federal Road Safety Corps, with the help of bystanders, reportedly rescued the victims, but the man was confirmed dead at the scene, while his wife sustained life-threatening injuries and was rushed for urgent medical attention.

The agency said the truck driver fled the scene immediately after the crash, while operatives of the Akodo Police Division provided security during the rescue operation.

The General Manager of LASTMA, Olalekan Bakare-Oki, described the incident as avoidable, urged motorists and truck drivers to ensure proper vehicle maintenance, and warned against reckless driving.