Monday, September 7, 2026 - Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a convicted cocaine trafficker who allegedly disguised himself as a herbal tea merchant,
A statement from Femi Babafemi, spokesperson of the agency,
says that following the interception of a 1.2kg cocaine consignment concealed
in phone chargers and destined for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at a courier company in
Lagos on July 31, operatives of the Directorate of Operations and General
Investigation (DOGI) in NDLEA, successfully tracked the mastermind through
painstaking intelligence-led operations.
The suspect, arrested in a sting operation at Article
Market, opposite Trade Fair Market, Ojo area of Lagos, on Friday, September 4
while posing as a herbal tea businessman, was identified as 34-year-old Dunu
Bethel Ebubechukwu.
Babafemi stated that the suspect in his confessional
statement, admitted being the mastermind of some illicit drug shipments in the
past while stating that he discarded his telephone SIM card once he learnt his
latest consignment had been intercepted by the NDLEA.
Babafemi added that further investigation revealed the
suspect is no stranger to the Agency.
‘’He was
first arrested in 2011 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA)
Ikeja Lagos after ingesting 900grams of cocaine and 130grams of heroin in an
attempt to fly to Austria under the name Dunu Chukwuyenre Enoch. He was
prosecuted for the crime, convicted and sentenced to five years in jail. He
thereafter changed his name to Dunu Bethel Ebubechukwu and returned to the
criminal trade.
A search of
his residence located at 6 Yemishola Street, Ejigbo, Lagos on Friday, September
4, led to the recovery of phone chargers similar to those used to conceal the
intercepted cocaine, with their internal components removed to create space for
drugs'' he said
The statement further mentioned that a 20,000-litre fuel tanker marked MKA 960 XC, and notorious for evading arrest in the past, was chased down by NDLEA officers along the Akoko/Lokoja expressway in Ondo state on Friday, September 4, after its driver refused to stop. Babafemi said the driver later abandoned the vehicle at a church premises in Ugbe Akoko, and fled into the bush. A search of the tanker revealed a false compartment concealing 165 bags of cannabis weighing 2,145kg alongside its legitimate fuel cargo destined for Jos, Plateau state.
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