NDLEA arrests 74-year old grandpa at Abuja airport with 11kg cocaine in balloons

A 74-year-old grandpa, Ikwuakalom Nwakoro Emeka, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) Abuja after a large consignment of cocaine was discovered in foil papers and balloons concealed in his luggage.

The NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja

Mr. Babafemi said the septuagenarian who claimed he was travelling to London, United Kingdom for vacation, was arrested by NDLEA officers at the departure hall of the Abuja airport while attempting to board a British Airways flight BA082 to Heathrow London on Saturday 14th March 2026.

According to him, during a search of his luggage, blocks of cocaine weighing 11 kilograms were discovered concealed inside food items, including ground dry pepper, carefully wrapped in foil papers and balloons.

“In Lagos, NDLEA operatives acting on credible intelligence in the early hours of Monday 9th March arrested a woman, Mrs. Maryam Olalowo at Ikad Hotel and Suites, on Etim Inyang Street, Victoria Island, while attempting to sell 89grams of cocaine and 20grams of Canadian Loud, a strain of cannabis.

” She was found with her three children, including an infant, at the time of the arrest.

“She confessed the illicit drugs belong to her husband, Ibrahim Olalowo Olatunji, who was later taken into custody same day while his wife was immediately set free.

Ibrahim confirmed ownership of the illicit drugs in his statement while further investigation revealed that he had previously been arrested, convicted, and sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment for a similar offence in 2015.