At least two Nigerian nationals were arrested in July in Beirut, Lebanon, for allegedly smuggling 156 capsules of cocaine weighing about 3 kilograms and valued at over $500,000.
PUNCH Metro learned on Thursday that the suspects reportedly ingested the drugs and were apprehended at a hotel in the Kesrouan district, north of Beirut.
According to Lebanese news outlet L’Orient Today, the arrests were made by Lebanon’s Central Bureau for Drug Control, which had been investigating an international drug trafficking network operating from Nigeria to Lebanon via Ethiopia.
The Lebanese Internal Security Forces (ISF) said the two suspects, identified only as R.A. (born 1996) and L.N. (born 1977), arrived at Beirut’s international airport in the early hours of July 24, 2025. After landing, they went straight to a hotel, where they allegedly planned to extract the swallowed capsules and deliver them to a local dealer.
Investigators, who had been monitoring the suspects, arrested them “in the act” and seized 156 capsules of pure cocaine. Authorities estimated the street value at over half a million U.S. dollars.
The ISF also linked the bust to a previous incident on May 22, when another individual was caught smuggling drugs into Beirut from an African country—both in luggage and through ingestion.
Such arrests of Nigerians abroad—ranging from drug trafficking to cybercrime and human trafficking—have been increasing. Just last month, Ghanaian authorities arrested around 50 Nigerians in Accra for alleged cyberfraud and human trafficking. The landlord of the property they were found in was also detained.