OPERATIVES of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted a consignment of cocaine concealed within the false bottoms of food flasks destined for the United Kingdom.

The discovery was made on Thursday, 9 April 2026, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos.
The illicit drugs, weighing 2.80 kilograms, were intended for export via a Virgin Atlantic flight.

NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, in a statement confirmed that two cargo agents, Ama Obinna Ufeim, 33 and Ogabi Monday Akorede, 39 were arrested at the airport’s export shed.

A follow up operation led to the arrest of 52 year old freight forwarder Agoro Tajudeen Moninuola, who was identified as the sender of the consignment.

In a separate operation at the same airport, officers intercepted 2.90 kilograms of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis hidden inside snack food packs arriving from the United States.

Following the initial arrest of two clearing agents, the intended recipient, 29 year old fashion designer Saheed Adeshina Adegoke, was apprehended in Ogba, Lagos, on 13 April.

The agency’s week long crackdown extended across several states including Kaduna State where officers on the Kaduna-Zaria highway intercepted a cement trailer bound for Jigawa State.

A search revealed 847 kilograms of cannabis concealed in 760 blocks and 33 jumbo bags.

In Cross River State, a joint operation with the military, NDLEA officers raided a forest in the Akamkpa local government area where 15,000 kilograms of cannabis growing on a six hectare plantation was destroyed and arrested 53 year old Alice Sunday Udoh.

Raids in Edo and Delta States on cannabis farms resulted in the destruction of over 2,200 kilograms of the substance and the arrest of five suspects caught with harvested drugs and seeds.

Two suspects were intercepted on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway while attempting to smuggle 11,900 tramadol capsules and 400 ampoules of phenobarbital injection to Ghana.

Chairman and Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Brigadier General Mohamed  Marwa (Rtd),  commended the various commands for their drug supply reduction efforts.

He noted that these enforcement successes were being balanced with the agency’s War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools and communities nationwide.

“We will continue to maintain this tempo to ensure a drug-free society,” Marwa stated, while urging officers to remain steadfast in their nationwide operations.

The agency further reported that its advocacy teams conducted enlightenment lectures at various secondary schools in Niger, Cross River, Kogi, Katsina, Kano, and Lagos states throughout the week.