Joseph Cyril, a 30-year-old businessman from Italy, was taken into custody by National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) agents at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, for consuming 98 wraps of cocaine.
On Sunday, August 2, 2026, Cyril was taken into custody while passengers were being cleared out of Ethiopian Airlines flight ET930, which was traveling to Italy via Addis Ababa and France.
The arrest was one of the drug seizures and arrests that the NDLEA documented during the first week of August.
Cyril was placed under excretion observation after being arrested in the departure hall of the airport. After that, he expelled 1.510 kilograms of cocaine in 98 wraps.
According to preliminary investigations, Cyril arrived in Nigeria on July 13, 2026, from Italy.
Before heading to Enugu to catch his flight back to Europe, he consumed the drug at a hotel in Awka, Anambra State.
Before agreeing to traffic the shipment for €3,500, the suspect claimed in his statement that he had been conducting business in Italy for a number of years. He also stated that he planned to use the funds to pay for his move to his family’s home country of Germany.
In a different operation, a truck carrying 1,633 kg of skunk hidden in bags of rice shafts was stopped by NDLEA agents on patrol along the Akure-Ilesha Expressway.
On Tuesday, August 4, 2026, the truck was stopped, and two suspects who were carrying the shipment—Buba Jamilu, 40, and Sanusi Ibrahim, 30—were taken into custody.
Nigerians have shown time and again a willingness to risk their lives and put themselves in danger, all in pursuit of quick money. However, if, by chance, such dangerous substances like drugs or contraband had found their way inside them, it could have led to tragic and irreversible consequences—possibly death. It is high time we recognize the destructive nature of smuggling and say a firm no to such dangerous activities. Engaging in drug trafficking and other illicit businesses not only destroys lives but also tarnishes Nigeria’s reputation abroad. We should instead focus on building a safer, more respectable image for our nation by rejecting these harmful pursuits and choosing paths that uplift rather than ruin us.
