By Ajibola Olaide, JKNewsMedia Reporter
TWELVE-month manhunt for a notorious drug trafficker ended last week as operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) apprehended Okechukwu Izugha, also known as Okey Omeogo, at his wife’s shop in Ijesha Market, Lagos.
The arrest followed a months-long investigation after a 9kg cocaine seizure in August 2024 linked to Izugha, culminating in his capture on 9th July 2025.
His wife, Maureen Izugha, earlier convicted for trafficking, had been arrested in January 2025 with 500 grams of cocaine.
The NDLEA’s clampdown got intensified at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport where officers recovered 11.3kg of Loud – a potent cannabis strain- hidden inside microwaves from Thailand.
The consignment was part of a consolidated cargo flown in via Addis Ababa.
Arrested in connection was Ezenwegbu Chike. In a similar operation, cocaine ingeniously disguised in female lipsticks and destined for Guinea was intercepted.
Roughly 400grams of cocaine and phenacetine were recovered from the lipsticks, while the suspect, businessman Ezeikwelume Prince Afam, was arrested at the Trade Fair Complex on 11th July.
A separate consignment containing 420 grams of cocaine inside 84 lipstick tubes, intended for the UK, had been intercepted just days earlier.
In Edo State, operatives torched over 28,000kg of skunk from three large cannabis farms spanning more than 11 hectares in Ewere Uzebba forest.
The operation, conducted on 8th July, turned violent as armed cartel members opened fire.
Though one vehicle was damaged, officers repelled the attack without injuries.
In Lagos, NDLEA operatives seized 1,400 blocks of Ghana Loud cannabis weighing 700kg and arrested two suspects, Innocent Ejidiobo and Friday Paul, along the Ajah-Epe Expressway.
Recovered items included 26kg of Loud, 123 grams of methamphetamine, 45 grams of Molly, and their delivery van.
Further north, NDLEA commands in Borno, Gombe, and Taraba recorded significant seizures of opioids. On 12th July in Maiduguri, 18,759 ampoules of pentazocine and assorted pills were recovered from 42-year-old Godwin Chimaobi Nwaobi.
In Gombe, 116,226 pills were seized from five suspects at the central market and Gombe-Kano Road.
Along Okene-Lokoja Expressway in Kogi, a suspect, Sabiu Bala, was caught with over 316kg of skunk. In Kaduna, Haladu Suleiman, 38, was arrested with nearly 59kg of the same substance in Gubuchi, Ikara LGA.
At Lanka Viri checkpoint in Taraba, officers intercepted 577,890 opioid pills and over 1kg of skunk from a petrol tanker’s tyre compartment on 8th July.
The suspects – Auwal Ibrahim, 30; Lukman Ibrahim, 18; and Hamza Adamu, 25 – were detained. Three others were arrested in Kano on 9th July with over 48kg of skunk.
Meanwhile, the agency’s WADA (War Against Drug Abuse) advocacy drive continued nationwide, engaging schools in Cross River, Enugu, Kano, Lagos, Anambra, and traditional institutions in Abia State.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), praised officers for their coordinated nationwide efforts in curbing drug trafficking and balancing enforcement with public awareness.
