Dare Babalola
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have uncovered what appears to be a coordinated drug trafficking network.
The agency arrested a Nigerian medical doctor and an Ivorian national in a cocaine smuggling operation spanning multiple states and international routes.
The agency said the bust followed the arrest of 41-year-old Ivorian suspect, Gohouri Michael, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Milan via Addis Ababa.
According to NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi on Sunday, the suspect was found to have ingested 82 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.49 kilograms.
Investigations revealed that Gohouri had arrived Nigeria from Milan in January and spent weeks moving between Lagos, Enugu, and Kano before ingesting the drugs in a hotel room ahead of his return trip.
“He was to be paid €5,000 upon successful delivery in Milan,” Babafemi disclosed, adding that the suspect operated under instructions from an unidentified coordinator.
That “shadowy figure,” according to the agency, was later identified as 69-year-old medical doctor, Chudi Ofomata, whose arrest points to a deeper level of organisation within the trafficking ring.
NDLEA operatives tracked Ofomata to his residence in Magboro, Ogun State, where he was arrested on March 27 before being moved to Kano for further investigation.
Items recovered from the doctor included controlled substances such as promazepam and promethazine injections, suggesting his alleged role extended beyond coordination to logistical or pharmaceutical support.
The agency said the arrests highlight an emerging pattern of professionals being linked to organised drug trafficking networks.
In a related operation in Lagos, NDLEA officers intercepted a commercial bus belonging to Chisco Transport along the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway.
A search of the vehicle uncovered 15 kilograms of skunk—a potent strain of cannabis—hidden in one of its compartments, leading to the arrest of two suspects.
The agency also reported a string of arrests across the country, underscoring the scale of ongoing enforcement efforts.
In Abia State, a 90-year-old suspect was arrested with 7.7 kilograms of skunk at his residence, while in Ogun and Imo states, multiple suspects were apprehended with significant quantities of the substance.
In Niger State, operatives raided a home where a couple was arrested after 118 kilograms of skunk were recovered from their kitchen.
Further seizures were recorded in Borno State, where a trailer loaded with Rohypnol tablets, codeine syrup, and pentazocine injections was intercepted, as well as in Lagos, where officials confiscated 26,800 bottles of codeine-based syrup in Mushin.
The NDLEA said the operations form part of a broader strategy to dismantle drug supply chains and disrupt networks facilitating the movement of illicit substances within and outside Nigeria.
