The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has carried out major operations across the country, seizing large quantities of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, skunk, and opioids at airports and in different states.
A statement by the NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday said the agency intercepted the drugs at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, courier companies, and in raids in Adamawa, Zamfara, Yobe, Taraba, and Edo states.
At the Lagos airport, two Nigerian returnees from Brazil were arrested after swallowing drugs. One of them, 46-year-old Ofoma Sunday, was picked up on September 16 on arrival from Brazil via Addis Ababa on an Ethiopian Airlines flight. A body scan showed he ingested illicit drugs. Under medical watch, he later excreted 111 wraps of heroin weighing 1.452kg in eight sessions.
The NDLEA said a follow-up operation led to the arrest of 55-year-old Nweke Jude Chukwudi at a hotel in Amuwo Odofin, Lagos, who was meant to collect the drugs. Another passenger, Ukachukwu Frank Ikechukwu, was also caught on September 19 after arriving from Brazil. He later expelled five wraps of cocaine weighing 145 grams. He confessed he had inserted nine wraps but lost some during his transit through Addis Ababa.
In another case, 38-year-old businesswoman, Okolonkwo Ebere Theresa, was arrested on September 14 after aviation security and NDLEA officers found 1.40kg of methamphetamine hidden in her butt pad underwear while she tried to board a Qatar Airways flight to Doha. She admitted she was recruited into drug trafficking despite running a second-hand clothing trade and a POS business in Enugu.
At the NAHCO export shed in Lagos, on September 15, NDLEA operatives found 40 wraps of methamphetamine weighing 2.3kg inside food items meant for Hong Kong. A 59-year-old suspect, Umelo Ifeanyi Venatus, was arrested. Three days later, at a courier company, seven phone chargers destined for New Zealand were discovered to contain 257 grams of cocaine.
Raids across northern states also led to huge seizures. In Adamawa, officers recovered 233,800 pills of tramadol in three operations. Nearly 196,000 pills were abandoned in a Toyota Sienna at Mayo Belwa, while a woman, Rita Zira, was caught with 27,900 pills in her bedroom in Jambutu, Yola. Another suspect, 22-year-old Halilu Abubakar, was found with 10,300 pills at Namtari checkpoint.
In Zamfara, NDLEA operatives and Community Protection Guards intercepted 109 bags of skunk weighing 1,099.4kg in a truck along Gummi–Daki Takwas Road. The driver, Hammed Danladi Aliyu, 40, was arrested.
Yobe recorded another seizure, with 14,000 tramadol capsules recovered from two suspects along Damaturu–Potiskum Road. In Taraba, 28-year-old Anas Hamisu was caught with three sacks of skunk weighing 25.5kg.
In Edo, the NDLEA destroyed two cannabis farms covering more than four hectares in Atororo forest, Owan West Local Government Area. The farms had an estimated yield of 11,330kg. Eleven bags of processed skunk weighing 148kg were also seized, and three suspects, Mathew Onoja, 56; Moses Thomas Male, 18; and Friday Uchenjin, 38, were arrested.
The agency added that its War Against Drug Abuse campaign was ongoing with sensitisation in schools, religious centres, and workplaces across Sokoto, Katsina, Jigawa, Benue, and Kano states.
NDLEA Chairman, Brigadier General Mohammed Buba Marwa (Rtd.), praised the officers for the seizures, calling it “a significant milestone in dismantling drug trafficking organisations.”
“These arrests and seizures represent a significant milestone in our determined effort to dismantle drug trafficking organisations operating in Nigeria and around the world, prioritising those bent on targeting our productive youth population with illicit substances until they’re no longer able to inflict harm on our communities or misrepresent our country’s image in the global space,” Marwa said.
He urged NDLEA operatives across the country to continue their combined work of enforcement and public advocacy.
