After 15 years as an okada rider, man's 'quick money' dream ends after excreting 100 wraps of meth in Lagos

• A former okada rider was arrested after excreting 100 wraps of meth at Lagos airport.

• NDLEA said the suspect swallowed the drugs before flying into Nigeria.

• The agency recovered 2.1kg of methamphetamine and is intensifying its crackdown on drug trafficking.

A 48-year-old former commercial motorcycle rider has been arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) after being caught with 100 wraps of methamphetamine at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Ikeja, Lagos.

The suspect, Onyechere Daniel Chinedu, was intercepted on Sunday, June 28, 2026, at Terminal 2 during the inward passenger clearance for an Ethiopian Airlines flight.

According to NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, Chinedu did not swallow all of the contraband. Instead, he used two different methods to smuggle the drugs:

• In his luggage: NDLEA operatives initially discovered 87 wraps of methamphetamine hidden tightly among clothes inside his checked-in backpack.

• Ingested: During interrogation, Chinedu admitted he had also swallowed additional drug pellets but could not remember the exact number. He was placed under excretion observation for three days, during which he passed the remaining 13 wraps.

In total, the 100 recovered wraps of methamphetamine weighed 1.715 kilograms.

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Investigation revealed that Chinedu's trafficking route did not go smoothly.

After swallowing the pellets in Uganda, his original destination was actually Madagascar, where he was supposed to deliver the drugs.

However, upon arriving in Madagascar, local immigration authorities denied him entry. 

His Uganda-based handler was forced to quickly rebook him on a return flight to Nigeria via Addis Ababa, inadvertently sending him straight into the hands of waiting NDLEA operatives in Lagos.

"I worked as an okada rider in the Oke-Afa area of Lagos for 15 years," Chinedu reportedly told investigators. He claimed that severe financial difficulties led him to accept a friend's smuggling proposition based in Uganda.

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The arrest highlights the NDLEA's intensified, intelligence-led operations at Nigeria's major international airports. 

Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the officers involved for their vigilance and reiterated that the agency remains fully equipped to detect illicit substances, whether they are concealed in luggage or inside the human body.