The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted nearly 59 kilogrammes of illicit drugs in two separate operations at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, arresting an American professional basketball player and a Nigerian man.
The seizures involved 33.95 kilogrammes of Loud, a potent cannabis strain, and 25.05 kilogrammes of methamphetamine concealed in imported breakfast cereal products.
The NDLEA said the American basketballer, aged 28, was arrested on Wednesday after arriving in Lagos from Thailand through Dubai aboard an Emirates Airline flight.
The agency's Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed the arrests in a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday.
According to him, the American attracted the attention of operatives who had placed him under discreet surveillance after he allegedly abandoned two checked-in bags and attempted to leave the airport with only his hand luggage.
He was subsequently apprehended at the airport car park.
A search of the abandoned luggage, which bore his name tags, reportedly uncovered 32 parcels of Loud, with 16 parcels in each bag.
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Babafemi said the consignment weighed 33.95kg, while a tracking device was also recovered from the luggage.
The suspect, a native of Savannah, Georgia, United States, reportedly told investigators that he had lived in Thailand since October 2025, where he played professional basketball.
He claimed that he travelled to Nigeria on holiday to establish contacts that could advance his basketball career.
Babafemi quoted him as saying that he came to Nigeria “to build networks for his basketball career”.
However, a forensic examination of his mobile phone reportedly uncovered information indicating his knowledge of and involvement in the drug trafficking operation.
In a separate operation at the airport, NDLEA operatives arrested a 56-year-old Nigerian man who arrived from South Africa on
Wednesday with 25.05kg of methamphetamine concealed in two travelling boxes.
The drugs were discovered during a search at the arrival hall of Terminal II.
Babafemi said the 25 parcels of methamphetamine had been hidden inside assorted breakfast cereal packs and cereal-based food products in an attempt to evade security screening.
He said the suspect held Nigerian and South African passports and had lived in South Africa for more than 24 years.
Preliminary investigations reportedly revealed that the man had adopted a false Nigerian identity after using forged documents to enter South Africa.
The agency added that he admitted being recruited by a South Africa-based individual to deliver the drugs in Nigeria for a fee of R20,000.
Babafemi said the suspect disclosed that he was contracted to transport the consignment for payment.
The two operations form part of the agency's efforts to curb international drug trafficking through Nigeria's airports.
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