Ex-Nigerian footballer, associate arrested for alleged cocaine smuggling at Lagos Airport

A former Nigerian footballer, Segun Hunkarin, and his business associate, Ntoruka Chinedu, have been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) over an alleged attempt to smuggle cocaine through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos.

According to a statement issued on Sunday by Femi Babafemi, Director of Media & Advocacy for the NDLEA, the arrest was made on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, when Chinedu arrived at the Lagos airport from an overseas trip.

Chinedu, who is reportedly known for frequent travel between Nigeria and Turkey in the trade of clothes and food items, was apprehended after officials discovered 37 wraps of cocaine—weighing approximately 800 grams—hidden inside his hand luggage.

Further investigations linked the operation to Segun Hunkarin, a former professional footballer turned entrepreneur, who was subsequently picked up by NDLEA operatives.

“Investigation showed that the suspect was coming from Turkey on 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 carpark to collect the consignment from him. Hunkarin who had stayed years in Brazil playing for football clubs was promptly tracked and arrested at the carpark,” the statement read.

“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 has never brought any to Nigeria,” Babafemi added.

In a separate incident, another businessman identified as Amen Godstime was arrested on Friday, June 27, at the Lagos airport. NDLEA officials said he was allegedly attempting to export 5,000 tramadol 225mg pills disguised as malaria medications, including Lonart, Amatem, and Aluktem, to Spain.

“He was intercepted at the departure hall of terminal 2 of the airport during the outward clearance of passengers on Royal Air Maroc flight to Spain through Casablanca.Okoro who is into freight and logistics business between Europe and Nigeria claimed that on his arrival in Spain, he would to a train to France where he resides and from there send the tramadol consignment to Italy for retailing,” the statement continued.

At the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu, NDLEA officers intercepted Emmanuel Ezenwaka, a bar worker based in Maputo, Mozambique. A search of his luggage uncovered 17 parcels of methamphetamine weighing 17.5 kilograms and three packages of cocaine totaling 3.05 kilograms.

“The 38-year-old suspect was coming from Johannesburg, South Africa via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Ethiopian Airlines flight when he was interdicted and subjected to a search during which the illicit drugs concealed in bedsheets packed in his bags were discovered,” NDLEA noted.

Another passenger on the same flight, Azu Follygan Kpodar, aged 54, was also detained. Officials discovered a plastic container labeled YPE in his luggage, which tested positive for liquid cocaine during forensic analysis in Enugu.

“The substance which turned out to be liquid cocaine weighed 1.250kg. The suspect who is a toy seller in Brinquedo, Sao Paulo, Brazil, claimed he purchased the substance while shopping for his wedding ceremony in Nigeria,” Babafemi stated.

Elsewhere, at the Seme border near Badagry, Lagos, NDLEA officers were said to have arrested a 26-year-old Beninese national, Vode Jean-Luck, on June 24 while allegedly trying to transport 69 balls of skunk a potent cannabis strain with a total weight of 29.5 kilograms into Nigeria from Benin Republic.