Busts syndicate planting illicit drugs in passengers’ luggage

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 38-year-old businesswoman, Iwebema Ogechi Peace, for alleged drug trafficking after a large consignment of cocaine was discovered in her luggage.
   
The suspect was arrested on June 21, 2026, at the departure hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to Beijing, China.
   
Iwebema, whose arrest followed credible intelligence, claimed to frequently travel to China to purchase goods for resale in Nigeria, was arrested on Sunday.
   
On searching her checked luggage, however, the NDLEA operatives discovered four large parcels of the Class A drug weighing a total of 7.5 kilogrammes concealed in a professionally constructed false bottom.
   
In another operation, a joint team of the NDLEA Apapa Strategic Command, the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies intercepted a 40-foot container loaded with 195 large sacks of Canadian Loud during a joint examination at the Apapa Port Complex on June 23, 2026.
   

In the container, which had been tracked by operatives of two NDLEA Special Operations Units for over four weeks, was 4,959 kilogrammes of the potent strain of cannabis with an estimated street value of N12.397 billion. The container, which also carried a Ford and Nissan vehicles, had been under NDLEA surveillance since April 25, 2026, when it departed Toronto, Canada, the operatives said.
   
Meanwhile, the NDLEA said its operatives in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), working with counterparts in Anambra State, uncovered a syndicate that allegedly plants illicit drugs in unsuspecting passengers’ luggage at motor parks.
   
The syndicate’s activities came to light when operatives intercepted a Sienna bus travelling from Nnewi, Anambra State, at the Abaji area of the FCT on June 20, 2026.
   
According to the agency, officers recovered a waybill package containing substances suspected to be methamphetamine weighing 467.7 grams and concealed in a black nylon bag hidden in a sack of clothes bearing the receiver’s phone number.
   
The NDLEA added that a follow-up operation led to the arrest at the Utako Motor Park in the FCT of the intended recipient, Mrs Gloria Peter, who, however, denied ownership or knowledge of the package.
   
Further investigation led to the arrest of the bus loaders in Nnewi, one of whom confessed to placing the drug package in the woman’s bag on the instruction of the driver, identified as Abdurrazak Isah.
   
The driver subsequently implicated one of his passengers, identified as Onyebuchi Victor Okoye, as the owner of the drugs. Okoye was later arrested in Utako during another follow-up operation.
   
In another operation, the NDLEA said one of its Special Operations Units, acting on credible intelligence, arrested 57-year-old Ikechukwu Uwakwe at a motor park in Iddo, Lagos, on June 27 for having 209.5 kilogrammes of Scottish Loud, which was being transported to Enugu.
   
Similarly, two Beninese nationals identified as Hossou Tito Julien, 30, and Mancellim Dossou, 19, alongside a Nigerian, Jackson ThankGod, were arrested after NDLEA operatives intercepted their truck on Mile 2 Bridge on June 21.
  
The truck, conveying an illicit drug consignment from Togo through the Republic of Benin, was searched, and 558,900 pills of Tramadol 250mg concealed in a specially fabricated compartment were intercepted.
    
In a separate operation, two persons named Lucky Abonga and Osas Azamobo were arrested along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on June 26 while transporting 118 kilogrammes of skunk, concealed among legitimate goods in a truck travelling from Ebute Ero, Lagos Island, to Onitsha, Anambra State.
   
Also in Lagos, a certain Helen Ese Idiji, 40, and Rashidat Sa’adullah, 53, were arrested on the same day at 15, Olumokun Street, Amukoko, where operatives recovered 28.8 kilogrammes of skunk. Investigations revealed that Idiji allegedly stored her drug consignments with Sa’adullah before distributing them to customers.
   
In the meantime, NDLEA commands and formations across the country intensified the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaigns in schools, places of worship, workplaces and communities during the past week.

The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (Rtd), has commended officers and personnel of the MMIA, Special Operations Units, Apapa, FCT, Anambra and Lagos Commands for the arrests and seizures. He praised their efforts in reducing drug supply while sustaining WADA sensitisation campaigns, urging them and their colleagues nationwide to remain steadfast in the fight against illicit drugs.