The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has detained former international footballer Segun Hunkarin and four others for attempting to smuggle cocaine into Nigeria via Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Ikeja, Lagos.
Hunkarin was arrested alongside his business associate, Ntoruka Chinedu, who frequently transports clothing from Turkey to Nigeria and food items in the opposite direction.
Reports indicate that Chinedu was apprehended first upon arriving at the Lagos airport, where a search of his carry-on bag revealed 37 wraps of cocaine weighing 800 grams hidden inside.
Investigations found that he arrived from Turkey on an Ethiopian Airlines flight, having transited through Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he collected luggage from another individual before continuing to Nigeria.
Further investigations disclosed that Hunkarin was waiting in the airport car park to retrieve the consignment from Chinedu.
Hunkarin, who had spent several years playing football in Brazil, was quickly located and arrested at the car park.
In his statement, Hunkarin asserted that although he had trafficked drugs twice from Brazil to Ethiopia during his football career, he had never attempted to bring any into Nigeria.