By Felix Mbata, Lagos state
The dream of quick riches turned to handcuffs last week for 48-year-old Nwankwo Innocent Onyebuchi, a Lagos marble dealer who sold off everything he owned to bankroll what he thought would be his big break in the illicit drug trade.
Acting on intelligence, operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, arrested Nwankwo at the departure hall of Terminal II, Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, as he tried to board a Qatar Airways flight to New Delhi, India. Hidden inside the side walls and railings of his check-in bag were 1.550 kilograms of cocaine. In a grim confession, the suspect said he had liquidated his marble business and all his assets to raise ₦23 million to buy the consignment, hoping to sell it in India for as much as ₦100 million. That dream was shattered on the spot. He is now in custody awaiting prosecution.
But Nwankwo was not the only one caught in NDLEA’s dragnet. In a series of intelligence-led operations between 10th and 14th August 2026, the agency hit hard at major drug networks across Lagos, Kano, Kwara, Edo, Plateau, Oyo and Delta states, recovering illicit drugs and substances worth well over ₦3.6 billion.
In Lagos, the heat was on. Between Friday 7th and Saturday 8th August, operatives acting on credible intelligence stormed a warehouse in a residential compound at 20 Hakeem Dosumu Street, Ago Palace, Okota. Inside, they found a massive stockpile of 3,776 cartons of codeine-based syrup, totaling 377,600 bottles with an estimated street value of over ₦2.6 billion.
Just days later, on Wednesday 14th August, another raid at 37 Ogundare Street, Ipaja Estate, led to the arrest of 55-year-old kingpin Shoremi Kayode. From his residence, officers recovered 324 kilograms of Colorado, a synthetic strain of cannabis valued at ₦972 million, along with a Mercedes-Benz car and a Toyota Corolla.
The story was similar across other states. In Kwara, two men, Abubakar Adamu, 50, and Bilyaminu Nuhu, 30, were arrested on Thursday 13th August at Kam Wire area of Ilorin with 55.96kg of skunk concealed in a truck marked DKA 350 XL.
In Oyo State, age offered no cover. On Wednesday 12th August, NDLEA officers on patrol along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in Ibadan intercepted a Toyota Sienna marked FFA-115KA and arrested 70-year-old Abdulfatai Oyelaran and Abdulrauf Ajadi, 50. The vehicle contained 52,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection and 6,000 ampoules of tramadol injection.
Further east, on the Onitsha/Asaba Expressway on Thursday 13th August, operatives arrested Osaro Ikpoba, 43, and Samuel Godbless, 18, with a disturbing cache: 124,100 pills of tramadol, 786 bottles of codeine syrup, 2,598 tablets of rohypnol, 4,800 tablets of diazepam, 470 ampoules of pentazocine injection and 200 ampoules of tramadol injection.
In Delta, Emeka Tony, 50, was nabbed on Wednesday 12th August along the Kwale/Ozoro Expressway with 1,244 pieces of cartridges and ₦8,000,000 in cash.
Up north in Plateau, a Toyota Corolla with registration number MKD 341 EA was intercepted along Riyom/Jos Road. Inside were 239,490 caps of Tramaforce, a brand of tramadol, leading to the arrest of Kasum Sherif.
Kano recorded two major busts. On Monday 10th August, six suspects — Okodili Ibeabuchi, 60; Onyeka Vincent, 47; Nwankwo Wisdom, 36; Success Chigozie, 30; Emmanuel Jude, 27; and Chinedu Peter, 39 — were arrested along the Zaria-Kano Road. From them, NDLEA recovered 728,958 pills of tramadol and rohypnol, 360 grams of cocaine, 99.8 grams of methamphetamine, 50 bottles of codeine syrup and 2.7 kilograms of Loud, a synthetic cannabis strain. Then on Friday 14th August, another raid at Zawaciki Gida Dubu in Kumbotso LGA yielded 171 blocks of skunk weighing 106.8kg, with Mustapha Iliya, 30, and Abdulwahab Abdulrashid, 24, arrested.
In Edo, the agency went after the source. On Wednesday 12th August, operatives destroyed 4,628.9775kg of skunk on two cannabis farms covering 1.851591 hectares at Ugboku/Igbanke Forest in Orhionmwon LGA, and arrested Agholor Elebojie, 40, on one of the farms. Two days later in Benin City, Kingsley Anigala, 28, was picked up at Oluku with 25.857kg of Loud and 93 grams of methamphetamine.
Beyond enforcement, NDLEA’s War Against Drug Abuse, WADA campaign also continued. Sensitization lectures were delivered to students and staff of Madarasatu Sheikh Muhammad Rabi’u Arabic School in Kano and Olomu Junior Secondary School in Ajah, Lagos, among others.
Commending the officers of MMIA, Lagos, Kano, Kwara, Edo, Plateau, Oyo and Delta Commands, the Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), praised them for maintaining a fair balance between drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction.