By Jemimah Wellington, JKNewsMedia ReporterÂ
THE NATIONAL Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has apprehended Alhaja Aishat Feyisara Ajoke Elediye, a 61-year-old Lagos socialite and notorious drug kingpin known as “Iya Ruka,” following the interception of a truckload of illicit drugs linked to her operations.
On January 1, 2025, NDLEA operatives acting on intelligence intercepted a white Isuzu truck at Mushin, Lagos, containing 44 jumbo sacks filled with 1,540 kilograms of imported cannabis.
The truck driver, Abideen Adio, 41, led officers to Elediye’s mansion at 33 Adebayo Oyewole Street, Okota, Lagos, where she was arrested.
Despite her public persona as a fabric and shoe importer from China, Elediye has allegedly run a significant drug cartel in Lagos for years.
She is also the “Iyalaje” of Blessing Sisters, an elite society club in Lagos.
In another operation on December 27, 2024, NDLEA officers arrested Nollywood filmmaker and motivational speaker Emeka Emmanuel Mbadiwe at a hotel in Lekki.
Earlier that day, his associate, Uzoekwe Ugochukwu James, was detained at a warehouse in Ajao Estate, Ikeja, while attempting to retrieve 33 parcels of “Loud” cannabis weighing 17.3 kilograms.
The consignment, concealed in wooden boxes, arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on December 24, 2024, from the United States.
In Kwara State, two young women, Khadijat Abdulraheem, 24, and Ayomide Morakinyo, 20, were arrested on December 29, 2024, at Tanke-University Road, Ilorin.
The duo was caught producing and selling drug-laced cupcakes to university students.
A search of their apartment revealed 42 drug-infused cakes.
An ex-convict, Sodade Sunday Eniola, was re-arrested for passport racketeering in Lagos after serving time for drug trafficking.
Eniola, convicted in June 2024, paid a fine to avoid a lengthy sentence but has since been linked to a syndicate smuggling passports concealed in shoe soles and food items.
NDLEA operatives at Lagos airport intercepted 52 passports destined for Canada, Russia, and other countries.
Investigations led to the arrest of three other suspects, and the items were handed over to the Nigerian Immigration Service.
In Rivers State, a joint operation at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex led to the seizure of 316,800 bottles of codeine-based syrup from two containers.
The seizure on December 31, 2024, followed intelligence shared by the Port Harcourt Command of the NDLEA.
Meanwhile, NDLEA officers in Kano raided a drug den in Mafarki, Dala Local Government Area, recovering 149,090 pills of tramadol and exol-5 from a local dealer, Ismail Muhammad, aged 45.
The NDLEA has also intensified its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaigns nationwide.
Activities over the past week included sensitisation lectures for traders at Ido-Osi Central Market, Ekiti State, and for worshippers at Birnin Kudu Central Mosque, Jigawa State.
Chairman and CEO of NDLEA, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the efforts of officers across the Lagos, Kano, Rivers, and Kwara Commands for their successful operations.
He highlighted the agency’s balanced approach to tackling both drug supply and demand in a statement by the Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, on January 5, 2025.
