Agency arrests real estate agent, grandma, tour agent; destroys 4.8 tons of skunk in nationwide raids
By Felix Mbata, Lagos state
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have dealt a major blow to drug cartels with the interception of synthetic cannabis shipments from the United Kingdom and the recovery of over 2.3 tons of assorted illicit drugs in coordinated raids across 8 states.
The week-long operations led to the arrest of more than 20 suspects, including a real estate agent, a 70-year-old woman, a tour agent, and a 20-year-old man, as NDLEA operatives uncovered increasingly desperate methods of concealment — from music speakers to loaves of bread.
At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja, Lagos, officers intercepted a UK-inbound consignment concealing 27 parcels of Colorado weighing 32.20kg on Wednesday, 9th September 2026. A real estate agent, Abideen Jide Salami, who arrived with a secret collection code relayed from his UK-based brother was immediately arrested.
In a follow-up operation, Nurudeen Abiodun Kadiri, 44, was picked up as the recipient of a second UK consignment containing 12.25kg of Colorado. He admitted his brother in the UK sent it.
NDLEA’s Directorate of Operations and General Investigation, DOGI, also smashed two Lagos park distribution channels. At Maza Maza Park, a music speaker rigged with 3 packs of Colorado heading to Abidjan and Liberia was intercepted. Tour agent Ifeanyi Obed Augustine, 41, and owner Obasi Ugochuckwu, 46, were arrested. At Iddo Park on Friday, 11th September, Ifeanyi Nwokolo Henry was nabbed attempting to dispatch 2.1kg of Colorado to Kano.
Across the states, the seizures were staggering.
In Delta, operatives in Ughelli and Asaba arrested Emeka Oji and Chukwuebuka Anedi with ampoules of pentazocine, codeine syrup, tramadol, diazepam, flunitrazepam and MDMA, many hidden in speakers.
In Kano, Saidu Adamu, 20, was arrested at Sabon Gari with 785,000 capsules of Pregabalin weighing 669.425kg. Along Zaria-Kano-Hadejia road, Habibu Sabitu, 28, was caught with 1,700 tablets of diazepam concealed inside loaves of bread. In Plateau, Chinedu Uzor, 51, was nabbed at Katako Market, Jos, with 157,100 capsules of tramadol.
NDLEA also sustained pressure on cannabis cultivation. In Edo, 4,832.56kg of skunk was destroyed on farms in Usen Forest, Igwe-Oke Forest and Ogboha Forest across Ovia South West, Owan East and Owan West LGAs, with Sunday Segun, 39, arrested on Friday, 11th September.
In Ondo, Paul Ogbuwala, 58, was arrested in Akure with 186kg of skunk concealed in a Toyota Avalon marked ABJ 917 FV, meant for Jos.
In Kaduna, Hannah Michael was arrested at Gonin Gora with 369.6kg of cannabis.
In Bayelsa, four suspects including 70-year-old Godwoman Gboriye were arrested at Ovom, Yenagoa, with 110 bags of cannabis weighing 876kg. Others arrested are Motombo Silver, 44; Pere Andrew, 39; and Keme Andrew, 43.
Alongside enforcement, NDLEA continued its War Against Drug Abuse, WADA campaign with lectures in Kano, advocacy in Cross River, and a visit to the Emir of Keffi, Alhaji Shehu Chindo Yamusa III, in Nasarawa.
Commending the officers of DOGI, MMIA, Ondo, Edo, Delta, Kaduna, Plateau, Bayelsa and Kano Commands, NDLEA Chairman/CEO, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), charged them to sustain the “balanced approach” to drug control and to “shut every pipeline being used by drug cartels, whether at the airports, seaports, land borders, or in the hinterland.”The latest seizures underscore both the ingenuity of traffickers and NDLEA’s resolve to protect communities from the scourge of drug abuse.