By Peter Omopo
Lagos, June 29, 2025 — The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested former international footballer Segun George Hunkarin and four others for their alleged involvement in drug trafficking across Lagos, Kano, and Enugu.
In a statement issued on Sunday by NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, the agency disclosed that Hunkarin and his associate, Ntoruka Chinedu, were apprehended in Lagos for attempting to smuggle cocaine into Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja.
Chinedu, a frequent flyer known for importing clothing from Turkey and exporting local foodstuffs, was arrested on Tuesday, June 24, upon arrival on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Turkey via Addis Ababa. A search of his luggage uncovered 37 wraps of cocaine weighing 800 grams, reportedly handed to him in Ethiopia before his journey to Lagos.
Further investigation led NDLEA operatives to arrest Hunkarin, a former professional footballer who had played in Brazil. He was tracked down and detained at the airport’s car park where he was allegedly waiting to collect the consignment.
“Hunkarin admitted in his statement that while he was playing football in Brazil, he had trafficked drugs twice from Brazil to Ethiopia but claimed he never brought any to Nigeria,” Babafemi said.
In a separate operation, Europe-based businessman Amen Okoro Godstime was arrested at Lagos Airport on Friday, June 27, while attempting to smuggle 5,000 tablets of tramadol (225mg), cleverly disguised as malaria medications such as Lonart, Amatem, and Aluktem. Okoro was apprehended at Terminal 2 while boarding a Royal Air Maroc flight to Spain via Casablanca. He allegedly intended to transit the drugs through France to his final destination, Italy.
Meanwhile, at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu, NDLEA operatives intercepted two additional drug traffickers arriving from different international locations on June 27. Further details on those arrests were not immediately disclosed.
The arrests mark the latest in a string of intensified efforts by the NDLEA to clamp down on international drug smuggling networks operating through Nigerian airports.
