The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested two suspected drug kingpins at Port Harcourt International Airport and Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, who excreted a total of 125 wraps of heroin.


NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, confirmed the arrests in a statement issued on Sunday, revealing that one of the suspects, Onyekwonike Elochuckwu Sylvanus, operates under dual identities to evade detection.


Sylvanus, 30, was caught at Port Harcourt airport on February 2, 2025, using a Sierra Leonean passport under the name Kargbo Mohamed Foday.


“He was intercepted during the inward clearance of passengers on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha via Abuja.
“A body scan confirmed he had ingested illicit drugs, and under observation, he excreted 62 wraps of heroin weighing 1.348 kilograms in five sessions,” Babafemi stated.
Further investigations showed that Sylvanus alternated between his Nigerian and Sierra Leonean passports for drug trafficking across Thailand, Pakistan, Iran, and West Africa.


He reportedly admitted to going full-time into the drug trade in 2017 after his clothing and shoe business collapsed.
The second suspect, James Chinoso, 48, was arrested on February 1, 2025, at Lagos airport after arriving from Madagascar via Ethiopia on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
“A body scan confirmed he had illicit drugs in his system. Under observation, he excreted 63 wraps of heroin weighing 909 grams,” Babafemi said.


Chinoso reportedly left Lagos for Madagascar on January 26, 2025, and returned a week later.
“He claimed he turned to drug trafficking after his phone accessories business in Liberia collapsed,” Babafemi added.
In a separate operation on February 6, NDLEA operatives from the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation intercepted 2.82 kilograms of Loud, a synthetic cannabis strain, smuggled from the United States and destined for Lagos.


That same day, another logistics firm in Lagos was found to be shipping 80 ampoules of pentazocine injection (225 grams) concealed in cartons to Canada.
In Kano, NDLEA operatives on February 3 arrested Usaini Salisu and Yahaya Mu’azu, both 23, at Gadar Tamburawa along Zaria Road, recovering 15,396 tramadol pills hidden in a gas cylinder.
A separate operation in Sabon Gari, Kano, led to the arrest of Chioma Okeke, 35, with 27 blocks of skunk (15 kg of cannabis).
On February 8, NDLEA officers intercepted 12,800 tramadol 250mg pills along the Kabba-Obajana Highway in Kogi State, arresting Salisu Basiru, 33.
The same day, 65 parcels of Colorado (1.6 kg of synthetic cannabis) headed for Jigawa State were recovered from Rufai Hassan, 32, at a checkpoint.
NDLEA, in the statement, vowed to intensify crackdowns on drug syndicates across the country.
Two drug kingpins excrete 125 wraps of heroin at Lagos, Port Harcourt airports
. As NDLEA intercepts Colorado, Loud, Tramadol consignments in gas cylinder, others in Kano, Kogi; seizes Canada-bound opioids
Attempts by two drug kingpins to smuggle into Nigeria consignments of heroin through the Port Harcourt International Airport and the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, have been foiled by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA.
One of the kingpins who uses dual identities to aid his cross border movements, has a Nigerian passport with his original name: Onyekwonike Elochuckwu Sylvanus, 30, and that of Sierra Leone with a different name: Kargbo Mohamed Foday. He was intercepted by NDLEA officers with his Sierra Leonean passport on Sunday 2nd February 2025 at the Port Harcourt airport, Rivers state during the inward clearance of passengers on Qatar Airways flight from Doha through Abuja to Port Harcourt.
He was subsequently taken for body scan which confirmed he ingested illicit drugs and thereafter placed under excretion observation during which he expelled a total of 62 wraps of heroin in five excretions, weighing 1.348 kilograms.
Investigation reveals Onyekwonike Elochuckwu Sylvanus (alias Kargbo Mohamed Foday) alternates his two identities for different drug trafficking missions between Thailand, Pakistan, Iran and West African countries. He claimed to have gone full time into the illicit drug trade in 2017 when his clothing and shoe business went down.
The second kingpin, James Herbert Chinoso, 48, was arrested by NDLEA operatives at the Lagos airport on Saturday 1st February upon his arrival from Madagascar via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on an Ethiopian Airlines flight. After a body scan confirmed illicit drug in his system, he was placed under excretion observation during which he egested 63 wraps of heroin with a total weight of 909 grams.
Chinoso had left Lagos to Madagascar on 26th January 2025 and returned via Addis Ababa after spending a week. He claimed to have gone into the criminal trade after his phone accessories business in Liberia collapsed.
Two parcels of 2.82 kilograms of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis imported from the United States with Lagos as destination were equally intercepted by NDLEA operatives of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation, DOGI, at a courier firm in Lagos on Thursday 6th February. In another interdiction operation same day but in a different logistics company in Lagos, anti-narcotics officers intercepted 80 ampoules of pentazocine injection 225grams concealed in cartons heading to Canada.
In Kano, NDLEA operatives on Monday 3rd February arrested the duo of Usaini Salisu and Yahaya Mu’azu, both 23 years old, at Gadar Tamburawa along Zaria road, where 15,396 pills of tramadol were recovered from a gas cylinder used to conceal the consignment. In another operation same day, operatives nabbed a female suspect, Choima Okeke, 35, with 27 blocks of skunk, a strain of cannabis weighing 15kg, at Sabon Gari area of Kano.
A consignment of 12,800 pills of tramadol 250mg going to Shuwarin in Jigawa state, was intercepted by NDLEA officers on patrol along Kabba-Obajana highway in Kogi state on Saturday 8th February with a suspect, Salisu Basiru, 33, arrested. Similarly, no fewer than 65 parcels of Colorado, a strong synthetic strain of cannabis with a total weight of 1.600kg also heading to Jigawa state, were recovered from another suspect, Rufai Hassan, 32 at the same check point same day.
With the same vigour, Commands and formations of the Agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, sensitization activities to schools, worship centres, work places and communities among others in the past week. These include: WADA enlightenment lecture to students and staff of Saint Secondary School, Abakaliki, Ebonyi; Taangayar Malam Abubakar Bichi, an Almajiri school, Bichi, Kano; Federal Government Girls College, Calabar, Cross River; College of Nursing and Science, Birnin Kebbi; and Meiran Community Junior Secondary School, Abule Egba, Lagos state among others.
While commending the officers and men of MMIA, PHIA, DOGI, Kano and Kogi Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, retired Brigadier General Buba Marwa stated that their operational successes and those of their compatriots across the country especially their balanced approach to drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts are well appreciated.
Femi Babafemi
Director, Media & Advocacy
NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja
Sunday 9th February 2025

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