By Jemimah Wellington, JKNewsMedia Correspondent
DRUG ENFORCEMENT operatives intercepted two million two hundred and forty-eight thousand (2,248,000) pills of tramadol 200mg/225mg disguised as multi-vitamins at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja Lagos.
The consignment, with an estimated street value of Three Billion Nine Hundred and Ninety Million Naira (N3,990,000,000), was imported from Delhi, India, and arrived on an Ethiopian Airline flight on Monday 8th September 2025.
According to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), a clearing agent and two drivers were arrested on Thursday 11th September while attempting to move the shipment from the airport in two trucks.
A follow-up operation the next day resulted in the arrest of Indian businessman Gupta Ravi Kumar, who allegedly attempted to take delivery of the drugs.
Three Nigerian accomplices, Ogunlana Noah Olanrewaju, Olushola Idrees Kayode, and Bakare Korede Muheeb, were also taken into custody.
At terminal two of the Lagos airport on Sunday 7th September, NDLEA operatives intercepted a passenger, Onyeganochi Stanley Ifeanyi, preparing to board a Qatar Airline flight to Doha.
His luggage contained 900 grams of skunk, concealed in crayfish. Onyeganochi, a first-time traveller, claimed the bag was handed to him by Qatar-based Nigerian Ohadiegwu Anthony Uchenna, who was later arrested at the airport.
A search of Uchenna’s hotel room in Ajao Estate uncovered a further 200 grams of skunk.
At Tincan port in Lagos, a container of vehicle spare parts and used vehicles imported from Montreal, Canada, was found to contain 161 parcels of Canadian Loud weighing 81.7kg and 1.2kg of hashish oil during a joint inspection on Tuesday 9th September. Two suspects, John Ochigbo, 53, and Okeke Kingsley, 26, were arrested.
On Thursday 11th September, a second shipment of Canadian Loud weighing 65kg was intercepted on the Third Mainland Bridge inside a Toyota Sienna vehicle. The driver, Abubakar Ibrahim, 42, was arrested.
Further seizures included two courier parcels in Lagos. Six grams of methamphetamine concealed in a picture frame and destined for Gabon were intercepted on Monday 8th September, while 1.1kg of Loud hidden in video players bound for the United Arab Emirates was seized on Thursday 11th September.
NDLEA operatives also raided a factory producing skuchies, a mix of cannabis and blackcurrant drink, in Caritas, Ibeshe, Ikorodu on Thursday 11th September.
The raid led to the recovery of 6,029 bottles of the psychoactive mixture and 4,232kg of cannabis.
The factory manager, Joy Awosika, was arrested. In Mushin, another suspect, Akeem Oriola, was apprehended with 26kg of skunk.
In Abuja, a stop-and-search operation in the Utako area on Thursday 11th September led to the arrest of a dispatch rider, Godsplan Vincent, 29, carrying 50.7 grams of cocaine and 66 grams of Loud.
In Oyo State, three women, Faidat Azeez, 25; Alanu Fatimoh, 40; and Mojeed Taiwo, 25, were arrested after 17kg of skunk was recovered from Lagbondoko and Akitan areas of Oyo town.
In Kano, 100,000 tramadol pills were seized from Musa Shuaibu, 38, along the Zaria–Kano road at Gadar Tamburawa on Monday 8th September. On Thursday 11th September, a further operation at Na’ibawa and Wailari areas led to the arrest of Abubakar Adamu, 35, with 196 litres of Akuskura, and Basiru Umar, 18, with 34.1kg skunk, 493 tubes of rubber solution, and 25 litres of a psychoactive substance known as “suck and die.”
In Anambra State, operatives arrested Nzube Onyedika, 41, and his wife Ebele Onyedika, 42, during a raid at Obosi, where 13.9kg of methamphetamine and 5.3kg of skunk were recovered. Another suspect, Nnamchi Tochukwu, 36, was also arrested with quantities of methamphetamine, tramadol, swinol, heroin, and skunk.
In Yobe State, a suspect, Mohammed Auwal, was arrested at Gadan Talakawa in Potiskum after 22.1kg of cannabis sativa was recovered from his residence.
In Ogun State, NDLEA operatives working with police and local vigilantes arrested three traffickers — Kunyadi Kunle Ogbungbun, 24; Olalekan Adewale, 20; and Sanya Joshua, 22 – with 394kg of skunk at Imeko on Sunday 7th September.
Three motorcycles used for transportation were also seized.
In Edo State, a 6.78-hectare cannabis farm at Ugbogyi forest, Ovia South-West LGA, was destroyed, eliminating 16,966.633kg of skunk.
At the same site, 112 bags of processed cannabis weighing 1,176kg were recovered, and four suspects – Ebenezer Ewang, Oshore John, Emmanuel Monday, and David Sunday – were arrested.
The agency stated that its commands nationwide sustained War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities, which included lectures at Onitsha South Motors Park in Enugu, Otu Central Mosque in Oyo, Salamah International School in Katsina, and Wawa Central Mosque in Niger.
The Ogun State command also paid an advocacy visit to Oba Adedapo Adewale Tejuosho, Karounwi III, Osile Oke-Ona Egba.
Chairman and Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended officers and men of the agency for their efforts and urged continued commitment to a balanced approach in drug control across the country.
