A 59-year-old businessman, Chijioke Igbokwe, underwent life-saving surgery after the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) removed 57 cocaine pellets from his stomach.
Igbokwe had ingested 81 pellets of cocaine in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, before boarding a flight to Beirut, Lebanon. However, he was denied entry into Lebanon due to insufficient funds and was deported back to Ethiopia.
Upon his return to Lagos, Nigeria, Igbokwe was arrested by NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport. A body scan revealed the presence of illicit drugs in his system, and he was placed under excretion observation.
After five days, Igbokwe was only able to expel 24 pellets, and complications arose due to underlying medical conditions. He was eventually admitted to a tertiary hospital, where he underwent an exploratory laparotomy to extract the remaining 57 pellets.
The NDLEA recovered a total of 81 cocaine pellets, weighing 1.943 kilograms, from Igbokwe’s body. In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives intercepted a 2,000-kilogram shipment of Ghanaian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, at Lekki Beach. Two suspects were arrested, and another suspect was apprehended with 55kg of skunk during a raid in the Mushin area of Lagos.
