The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a former international football player, Segun George Hunkarin, and his associate, Ntoruka Chinedu, for attempting to smuggle cocaine into Nigeria through Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
Chinedu, a regular traveller known for importing clothes from Turkey and exporting foodstuffs from Nigeria, was arrested on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, upon arrival from Turkey via an Ethiopian Airlines flight with a stopover in Addis Ababa.
A statement by the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday stated that a search of his hand luggage uncovered 37 wraps of cocaine weighing 800 grammes, which he had reportedly collected in Ethiopia before heading to Nigeria.
Further investigation led to the arrest of Hunkarin, a former professional footballer who had spent years playing in Brazil.
“Investigation showed that the suspect was coming from Turkey on an Ethiopian Airlines flight but transited through Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he collected the luggage from another person before heading to Nigeria. Further checks revealed that an accomplice, who turned out to be the former professional footballer Segun Hunkarin, was waiting for Chinedu at the airport car park to collect the consignment from him.
“Hunkarin, who had spent years in Brazil playing for football clubs, was promptly tracked and arrested at the car park. In his statement, Hunkarin claimed that while playing professional football in the South American country, he had only trafficked drugs twice from Brazil to Ethiopia but had never brought any to Nigeria,” he added.
In another development, Babafemi said a Europe-based businessman, Amen Okoro Godstime, was arrested at Lagos airport on Friday, June 27, while attempting to smuggle 5,000 tablets of tramadol (225mg) disguised as malaria drugs such as Lonart, Amatem, and Aluktem.
He added that Okoro was caught at Terminal 2 during the clearance of passengers for a Royal Air Maroc flight to Spain via Casablanca. Okoro claimed he intended to move the drugs to Italy through France, where he resides.
At Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, Babafemi said NDLEA operatives intercepted two drug traffickers arriving from different parts of the world on June 27.
He noted that one, 38-year-old bar attendant Ezenwaka Chibuzor Emmanuel, was arrested with 17.5kg of methamphetamine and 3.05kg of cocaine concealed in bedsheets. He had travelled from Johannesburg via Addis Ababa.
The second, 54-year-old Azu Follygan Kpodar, arrived from São Paulo, Brazil, with a plastic liquid soap container that, upon analysis, was found to contain 1.25kg of liquid cocaine. Kpodar, who trades in toys in Brinquedo, São Paulo, claimed he bought the substance while shopping for his upcoming wedding in Nigeria.
