N10b cocaine, Loud, opioids intercepted, kingpins arrested

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted cocaine, Loud, and opioids worth N10 billion at ports in Lagos State, with the kingpins behind the arrested.

The Director of Media and Advocacy of the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, revealed this in a statement he issued to newsmen on Sunday.

According to Babafemi, a 55-year-old businessman, Onuigbo Ndubisi Chinedu, who deals in clothing at the popular Balogun Market, Lagos Island, Lagos State was arrested by operatives of the NDLEA for attempting to export 3.30 kilograms of cocaine concealed in walls of cartons used to package foodstuffs going to the United kingdom.

Onuigbo was arrested on July 23, 2026 following the interception of his cocaine consignment at the export shed of the Lagos airport the previous day, July 22, by NDLEA operatives. 

In the course of investigation, three cargo agents: Nkwor Onyekachukwu Justina, Adeleke Abiola Taoheed, and Ukanwa Grace Pilgrim, who handled the shipment were initially arrested, leading to the arrest Kenneth Okakpu, who delivered the consignment to the cargo agents for shipment to the UK.

Okakpu’s arrest provided the lead to identifying Onuigbo as the kingpin behind the syndicate and his eventual arrest while attempting to send another consignment of cocaine to the UK.

A 31-year-old entrepreneur, Emmanuella Chukwu-Edo, also involved in illicit drug trafficking, was on July 21 arrested at her Surulere, Lagos State residence by NDLEA operatives following the seizure of her consignment of 2.80kg Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, which arrived from the United States aboard a United Airlines flight on July 20.

In another interdiction operation at the Lagos airport, a total of 2.24 million pills of Tapentadol 250mg worth over N2.2 billion in street value were recovered from a shipment from India aboard an Air Maroc flight during a joint examination of the cargo on July 24. 

The exercise was based on an intelligence received and processed by NDLEA. 

This came on the heels of the seizure of a consignment of tramadol buried in containers of black soap heading to the UK. 

The shipment was intercepted by NDLEA operatives at a courier firm in Lagos on July 22.

At the Apapa seaport in Lagos, a container of three vehicles used to conceal a total number of 4,777 sachets of Canadian Loud weighing 2,388.5kg worth over N7.1 billion in street value was uncovered during a joint examination of the shipment on July 20.

A suspect Mustapha Sani, 30, was on July 22 nabbed by NDLEA operatives on patrol operation at Baure, Safana LGA, Katsina State, where he was found with 323 rounds of military grade ammunition consisting of 200 pieces of 7.62mm and 123 rounds of 7.6mm neatly concealed.

Another suspect, Abubakar Amadu, 30, was arrested by NDLEA officers on stop and search operation at Jere, along Abuja-Kaduna Expressway, where he was found with 73 RLA, and 7.62mm ammunition hidden in kegs of red oil. 

Both suspects have been handed over to the relevant security agency for further investigation.

In Edo State, raid operations at Ilushi community, Esan South East LGA on July 19 led to the seizure of 1,286kg cannabis and 86kg cannabis seeds from a warehouse, while Ojore Onweze, 45, was caught with 60kg skunk and George Agwumede, 30, nabbed with 13kg of the same substance.

With the same vigour, Commands and formations of the Agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities to schools, worship centres, work places, and communities among others in the past week. 

These included WADA sensitisation lectures to students and staff of Government Day Secondary School, Sabon Wuse, Niger State; Government Girls Secondary School, Shekara, Kano State; and Otto Primary School, Ebute Metta, Lagos State.

While commending the officers and men of DOGI, MMIA, Apapa, Edo, Kaduna, and Katsina Commands for the various successful operations, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), enjoined them and their colleagues across the country to continue with the ongoing balanced approach to the drug control efforts of the Agency.

𝕤𝕖𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖/𝕨𝕒𝕥𝕔𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕧𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕠 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖