By Jemimah Wellington, JKNewsMedia Correspondent
A SEVEN-year manhunt has ended with the arrest of 60-year-old drug baron Okpara Paul Chigozie as Nigeria’s anti-narcotics agency intensified its crackdown on syndicates smuggling hard drugs across the country and abroad.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) operatives stormed his hideout in Isheri, Lagos, on Sunday, 13 July, hours after intercepting one of his couriers transporting 8.5kg of cocaine and methamphetamine along the Apapa-Oshodi expressway.
The courier, 51-year-old Achebe Kenneth Nnamdi, was caught en route to Onitsha, Anambra State, in a white Toyota Sienna van.
Upon searching the vehicle with trained sniffer dogs, officers uncovered 7.6kg of cocaine and 900 grams of meth hidden within its body compartments.
A swift follow-up raid on Okpara’s residence yielded an additional 1.8kg of cocaine and 1.3kg of methamphetamine, marking the collapse of a network that had eluded authorities since 2019.
Operations intensified at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) with multiple seizures.
On Wednesday, 16 July, joint security personnel confiscated 7,790 pills of tramadol and rohypnol from a passenger, Omoregie Nice Uyiosa, heading to Italy via Turkish Airlines.
The suspect admitted intent to sell the substances abroad.
A day later, NDLEA officers intercepted 1.7kg of skunk disguised in cereal packs bound for Pakistan. Chioba Robert Uchenna, who attempted to export the consignment, was arrested at the cargo terminal.
Another bust occurred on Saturday, 19 July, at Sarah Sam Hotels in Kosofe, Lagos, where party drugs were being traded.
Acting on surveillance, agents arrested Obayemi Oyetade and recovered 1.3kg of chocolate cannabis, 900 grams of drug-laced gummies, and 22.9 grams of skunk.
The hotel, run as a family operation, also housed the suspect’s mother and siblings. Officers seized three vehicles during the raid.
More seizures and arrests unfolded across multiple states.
In Kaduna, 742.8kg of skunk and Colorado strains of cannabis were seized from three suspects during an intelligence-led raid in Narayi High Cost, Chikun LGA. In Kano, Lawan Rabiu was caught with 36,000 tramadol pills along Danbatta-Kazaure road on 16 July.
At Gombe roundabout, Aliyu Abubakar was apprehended with 25,000 pills of tramadol and exol-5, while 29kg of compressed skunk was seized from Mohammed Adamu and Furaira Idris in Kwadom, Yemaltu Deba LGA.
In Borno, 74,360 opioid pills were intercepted in a Mercedes Benz C180 driven by 44-year-old Audu Modu along Baga Road in Maiduguri.
Bayelsa Command agents arrested 63-year-old Akuna Nelson at Osiri, Yenagoa, on 17 July for possessing 163 litres of the locally brewed psychoactive mixture known as skuchies.
That same day in Kogi, four men travelling from Onitsha to Minna were found with 2kg of methamphetamine on the Okene-Lokoja highway. Arrested suspects included Ikechukwu Abugu, Sunday Ani, Chukwu Christian, and Emmanuel Olisakwe.
Abia Command officers raided the base of a notorious dealer, Nduka Obi, in Aba on 14 July, seizing tramadol, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and N736,000 in cash.
On 16 July, Enugu Command seized 45,000 tramadol pills from Chisom Okpalaeke along the Onitsha–Enugu expressway. Meanwhile, Taraba officers apprehended Ngwokwoka Thomas and Mohammed Audu with 10,000 tramadol capsules and a gram of cannabis in Gassol LGA.
The agency’s anti-drug campaign continued nationwide under the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) initiative, which delivered sensitisation lectures to students and staff in schools across Niger, Adamawa, Enugu, Anambra, and Kano states.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), in his usual manner, commended officers across all formations for recent operations, praising their coordination in reducing drug supply while engaging communities to curb demand.
He also lauded the strategic blend of enforcement and advocacy as critical to tackling the drug crisis threatening national health and security.
