NDLEA busts drug rings, arrests leaders, seizes cocaine, opioids worth billions

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled two major cross-border drug trafficking syndicates, arresting six suspected ringleaders and seizing narcotics worth billions of naira.

The crackdown was part of intensified operations across Nigeria, targeting groups suspected of supplying drugs to terror factions operating within the country and neighbouring Cameroon.

The syndicates, which operated from bases in Mubi, Adamawa state; Onitsha, Anambra state; and Lagos state, were exposed after intelligence efforts revealed their roles in distributing psychoactive substances.

Key arrests included Ibrahim Bawuro, Najib Ibrahim, Ibrahim Umar, Nelson Udechukwu Anayo, Ezeh Amaechi Martin, and Adejumo Elijah Ishola. The NDLEA revealed that Bawuro and Najib allegedly sourced large quantities of tramadol from Udechukwu in Onitsha. The drugs were reportedly concealed in vehicles on Martin’s premises before being transported northwards under the cover of night.

On October 8, 2024, following a tip-off, NDLEA operatives intercepted a Toyota Avensis carrying 276,500 tramadol pills along the Jalingo-Yola expressway, which the suspects abandoned after a hot pursuit.

Further raids in Delta and Anambra led to the arrest of Martin and Udechukwu. In a separate operation, Ishola, 37, was apprehended on November 5, 2024, at the Seme border with 3.3 kilogrammes of cocaine and 600 grammes of synthetic cannabis smuggled from Ghana.

The NDLEA also made significant seizures at Lagos’ Apapa seaport on November 6, 2024, where officials discovered 240mg Voltron tablets, worth N31.75 million, concealed in a container from India labelled as diclofenac sodium.

Additionally, on November 5, 2024, NDLEA agents at Murtala Muhammed International Airport seized a 700-gramme shipment of Loud, a potent cannabis strain. A software engineer, Olu Marshal, was arrested while attempting to retrieve the package, with further searches of his Lekki residence uncovering drug paraphernalia.

The crackdown extended to Kwara State, where operatives recovered 162,800 opioid pills from multiple suspects, including Wahab Alao Saliu and Ahmed Isiaka.
Similarly, in Abuja, on November 7, 2024, the NDLEA intercepted a truck on the Abaji-Kwali road carrying 755.5 kilogrammes of cannabis hidden under empty noodle cartons. The driver, Lukman Rasheed, admitted that the consignment was loaded in Ogbese, Ondo state.

The NDLEA has pledged to sustain its efforts in curbing drug trafficking, with additional operations ongoing in Edo, Ondo, and other states.