The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a former international footballer, Segun George Hunkarin, and a Europe-based businessman, Amen Okoro Godstime, in separate drug trafficking attempts.
Femi Babafemi, NDLEA spokesperson, disclosed in a statement on Sunday that Hunkarin and his associate, Ntoruka Chinedu, were caught in a foiled attempt to smuggle cocaine into Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
“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,” the statement said.
“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
Chinedu, a frequent international traveller known for importing clothes from Turkey and exporting foodstuffs, was apprehended on Tuesday, June 24, upon arrival from Turkey via an Ethiopian Airlines flight with a layover in Addis Ababa.
A search of his hand luggage uncovered 37 wraps of cocaine weighing 800 grammes, which he allegedly collected during the stopover in Ethiopia.
In a related operation, Europe-based businessman Amen Okoro Godstime, was intercepted on Friday, June 27, at the Lagos airport’s Terminal 2.
NDLEA officials discovered 5,000 tablets of tramadol (225mg) concealed as malaria medications, including Lonart, Amatem, and Aluktem.
Okoro, who was en route Spain via Casablanca on a Royal Air Maroc flight, confessed he intended to move the drugs to Italy through France, where he resides.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, also intercepted two suspected drug traffickers arriving from different global destinations on the same day, further underscoring the agency’s intensified crackdown on international drug smuggling networks.
https://radionigeria.gov.ng/2025/06/29/ndlea-arrests-former-footballer-others-for-drug-trafficking/
