…Nabs 72-year-old grandma, others over drugs

By: Kingsley Omonobi

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have arrested a former international football player, Segun George Hunkarin, along with his business partner, Ntoruka Emmanuel Chinedu, over an attempt to smuggle cocaine into Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja, Lagos.

This comes as operatives arrested a 72-year-old grandmother, Mrs. Christy Ejaro, in Warri, Delta State, with several sachets of skunk packaged in retail sizes.

According to the agency, Chinedu, a frequent flyer known for transporting clothes from Turkey to Nigeria and foodstuffs from Nigeria to Turkey, was the first to be arrested upon his arrival at the Lagos airport on Tuesday, June 24, 2025.

According to NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, “A search of his carry-on bag revealed 37 wraps of cocaine weighing 800 grams concealed inside.”

Investigations showed that Chinedu was on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Turkey via Addis Ababa, where he collected the luggage from another individual before flying to Nigeria.

Further checks revealed that his accomplice, former professional footballer Segun Hunkarin, was waiting at the airport car park to collect the consignment. Hunkarin, who previously played for football clubs in Brazil, was promptly tracked and arrested.

In his statement, Hunkarin admitted to having trafficked drugs twice from Brazil to Ethiopia during his football career but claimed he had never trafficked drugs into Nigeria.

In a related development, Europe-based businessman Amen Okoro Godstime was arrested by NDLEA operatives on Friday, June 27, at the Lagos airport for attempting to traffic 5,000 pills of Tramadol 225mg disguised as malaria drugs (Lonart, Amatem, and Aluktem) to Spain.

He was intercepted at Terminal 2 during passenger clearance for a Royal Air Maroc flight to Spain via Casablanca. Okoro, who operates a freight and logistics business between Europe and Nigeria, claimed he planned to board a train from Spain to France, where he resides, before forwarding the consignment to Italy for retail.

At Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, on the same day, NDLEA operatives intercepted Ezenwaka Chibuzor Emmanuel, a Maputo-based bar attendant. A search of his luggage uncovered 17 parcels of methamphetamine weighing 17.5kg and three parcels of cocaine weighing 3.05kg.

The 38-year-old suspect, arriving from Johannesburg via Addis Ababa, had concealed the drugs inside bedsheets packed in his bags.

Another passenger on the same Ethiopian Airlines flight, 54-year-old Azu Follygan Kpodar, was also intercepted. A plastic liquid soap container marked “YPE” found in his luggage was taken for analysis and tested positive for cocaine. The liquid cocaine weighed 1.25kg. Azu, a toy seller from Brinquedo, São Paulo, Brazil, claimed he bought the substance while shopping for his wedding in Nigeria.

At Seme border, Badagry, Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Tuesday, June 24, intercepted a 26-year-old Beninese national, Vode Jean-Luck, attempting to smuggle 69 balls of skunk (a potent strain of cannabis) weighing 29.5kg into Nigeria from Benin Republic.

In Kwara State, notorious drug dealer Mary Bolanle Oladele (a.k.a. Iya Nafi) was arrested on Wednesday, June 25, when NDLEA raided her base in Omu-Aran, Irepodun Local Government Area. Quantities of skunk, Tramadol, and Flunitrazepam were recovered.

A 72-year-old grandmother, Mrs. Christy Ejaro, was also arrested the same day at Niger CAT area in Warri, Delta State. Several sachets of retail-packaged skunk were recovered from her.

Babafemi said Ejaro was arrested on June 25 by the agency’s operatives at the Niger CAT area of Delta State.