The suspects, identified as Aliocus Godian Odife and Sam Blackborn, were arrested on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, during the outward clearance of an Air France flight, AF 832, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
The NDLEA disclosed this in a statement on Sunday through its spokesman, Femi Babafemi, explaining that the suspects were intercepted after body scans indicated the presence of foreign objects in their stomachs.
According to the agency, both men had returned to Nigeria for holidays before attempting to transport the illicit substances to Europe.
Babafemi said Odife, who reportedly resides in France and works in a factory, arrived in Nigeria on October 21 for a short holiday but was arrested while preparing to return to Europe.
A body scan conducted by NDLEA operatives reportedly confirmed that he had ingested foreign objects. During questioning, he allegedly admitted swallowing 110 wraps of cocaine.
The agency said Odife was placed under observation, during which he excreted all 110 wraps. The substances tested positive for cocaine and weighed 1.901 kilogrammes.
The statement partly read, “Two Europe-based Nigerian ‘businessmen’ who flew home on holiday and attempted to return to Paris, France, with their bellies loaded with cocaine have been arrested by operatives of the NDLEA at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
“The duo, Aliocus Godian Odife and Sam Blackborn, were intercepted on Wednesday, 28th October 2026, during the outward clearance of Air France flight AF 832 from Abuja to Paris. Both men have excreted a total of 200 wraps of the Class A drug weighing 3.460 kilogrammes.”
Babafemi said Blackborn also tested positive during a body scan and allegedly confessed to ingesting 90 wraps of cocaine.
He was equally placed under observation and subsequently excreted all 90 wraps, which weighed 1.559 kilogrammes.
Other Drug Seizures Across the Country
The NDLEA also reported several arrests and drug seizures in different parts of the country as part of its ongoing operations against drug trafficking.
In Lagos, operatives recovered 976 kilogrammes of cannabis from two commercial buses.
In Oyo State, two suspects, Oguntona Nasiru, 46, and Soji Balogun, 47, were arrested on Thursday, October 29, while allegedly loading 554 kilogrammes of cannabis into a truck along Idere Road, Igboora.
In Kano State, NDLEA operatives raided a location in the Tsamiya area of Gezawa, where they recovered 247,500 tablets of diazepam weighing 57.7 kilogrammes and 100,000 tablets of Exol-5 weighing 38.7 kilogrammes.
The agency also arrested two men in Dorayi, Kano, with 19,250 pills of tramadol.
In another operation, NDLEA officers conducting patrols along the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway arrested a woman identified as Aisha Isah, who was allegedly found in possession of 266 rounds of live AK-47 ammunition.
Similarly, operatives along the Zaria-Kano Expressway arrested a 68-year-old man, Ifeanyi Egwolonwu, with 2,770 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 100 ampoules of diazepam injection, 11,000 tablets of diazepam and 4,500 tablets of Exol-5.
Reacting to the arrests and seizures, the Chairman of the NDLEA, Brigadier-General Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), warned Nigerians living abroad against using their overseas residence as a cover for international drug trafficking.
“The interception of the two cocaine couriers at Abuja airport is a fresh warning to those who think they can use their residence abroad as cover to traffic drugs across Nigerian borders,” Marwa said.
He maintained that NDLEA operatives at the country’s entry and exit points remained vigilant and would continue to track individuals involved in illicit drug trafficking.
“There is no hiding place for anyone who chooses to risk their life and liberty by ingesting illicit drugs for a fee,” he added.
Marwa commended personnel of the agency’s commands in Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto, Ondo, Oyo and Edo states for their efforts, urging them to sustain the operations.
He also called for increased drug demand reduction campaigns under the agency’s War Against Drug Abuse initiative.
