Two Brazil returnees, Ofoma Sunday and Ukachukwu Frank Ikechukwu, have excreted a total of 116 wraps of heroin and cocaine while in observatory custody, days after their arrest by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
Spokesperson for the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Femi Babafemi, has confirmed the arrest of two Brazil-based Nigerians who excreted a total of 116 wraps of heroin and cocaine while in observatory custody following their arrival at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
Babafemi disclosed that 46-year-old Ofoma Sunday was apprehended on Tuesday, September 16, 2025, at Terminal 2 of the Lagos airport shortly after arriving from São Paulo, Brazil, via an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
“He was taken in for a body scan, which confirmed he had ingested illicit drugs,” Babafemi said. “Further investigation revealed that Ofoma departed Nigeria for Brazil on September 3rd with the mission of couriering the drugs to Lagos in exchange for a promised payment of $2,500.”
Following his arrest, NDLEA operatives swiftly launched a follow-up operation at Eliata Hotel in the Amuwo Odofin area of Lagos, where Ofoma was instructed to deliver the narcotics. There, 55-year-old Nweke Jude Chuckwudi, who was assigned to supervise the excretion and collection of the drug consignments, was also arrested.
Babafemi confirmed that Ofoma excreted a total of 111 wraps of heroin, weighing 1.452 kilograms, across eight excretion sessions while in custody.
In a similar operation, Ukachukwu Frank Ikechukwu, another returnee from Brazil, was arrested on Friday, September 19, 2025, during the inward clearance of Ethiopian Airlines passengers from São Paulo, transiting through Addis Ababa.
“A body scan confirmed the insertion of illicit drugs,” Babafemi stated. “Under observation, Ukachukwu excreted five large wraps of cocaine, weighing 145 grams.”
According to his confession, Ukachukwu admitted to purchasing nine wraps of cocaine in Brazil and inserting them into his anus—a process he said took nearly two hours. However, while transiting through Addis Ababa, he experienced severe anal pain, prompting him to remove all nine wraps. Pressed for time to catch his connecting flight to Lagos, he claimed he was only able to reinsert seven wraps, flushing the remaining two down a toilet.
Babafemi added that during the flight to Nigeria, the suspect felt extreme discomfort and had to use the lavatory, where he expelled an additional two wraps, leaving only five wraps still inside him by the time he was arrested.
Ukachukwu further revealed that he had previously been involved in the clothing business before relocating to Brazil in 2017. In 2020, he moved to the United States, where he was arrested for an immigration-related offense, detained for over a year, and deported back to Nigeria in 2022.
