An ex-international football player and his businessman partner have been detained by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for an alleged smuggling attempt into Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Ikeja, Lagos.
The business partner was detained on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, according to the NDLEA, upon his arrival at the Lagos airport.
It claimed that a search of his carry-on bag on Sunday revealed 37 wraps of 800 grams of cocaine hidden therein. The director of media and advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said in a statement released on Sunday.
An ex-international football player, Segun George Hunkarin, and his business partner Ntoruka Emmanuel Chinedu have been detained by the national drug law enforcement agency (NDLEA) operations in Lagos over an attempt to smuggle cocaine into Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja.
READ MORE: NDLEA Arrests 353 Suspects For Drug-Related Offences .
According to the investigation, the suspect was traveling from Turkey to Ethiopian Airlines when he passed through Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he collected the luggage before departing for Nigeria. According to further examinations, Segun Hunkarin, a former professional football player, was present to meet Chinedu at the airport carpark to collect the consignment, according to the statement.
Hunkarin, who had spent years playing for football clubs in Brazil, was quickly tracked down and detained in the carpark, according to the organization.
Hunkarin claimed in his statement that he had never brought drugs to Nigeria but had only ever trafficked them from Brazil to Ethiopia while playing professional football there.
The NDLEA also made it known that an Amen Okoro Godstime, a businessman from Europe, was detained on June 27 by its agents at the Lagos airport trying to traffic 5, 000 tramadol 225mg pills that were being sold as known malaria medications like Lonart, Amatem, and Aluktem to Spain.
He was allegedly intercepted on a Royal Air Maroc flight through Casablanca while he was clearing the departure hall of Terminal 2 of the airport.
According to the statement, Okoro, who runs a freight and logistics company between Europe and Nigeria, said he would take a train to France where he lives and then send the tramadol consignment to Italy for retailing.
Ezenwaka Chibuzor Emmanuel, a bar attendant from Maputo, Mozambique, was intercepted by the NDLEA agents at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA) Enugu.
According to the report, a search of his luggage turned up three cardboard-sized cocaine packages weighing 3.050 kilograms and methamphetamine that were both in his possession.
The 38-year-old suspect was traveling from Johannesburg, South Africa, via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia when he was interrogated and subjected to a search that resulted in the discovery of the illicit drugs contained in the bedsheets in his bags.
Source: Channels TV
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