Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted consignments of cocaine concealed in a locally made mortar and the false bottom of a backpack, both packaged for shipment to China and Italy through a logistics company in Lagos.

The seizures were made by officers of the NDLEA’s Directorate of Operations and General Investigations (DOGI) on Thursday, July 30, 2026.

They recovered 250 grammes of cocaine factory-fitted into the base of a locally made mortar packed in a carton for export to China, as well as 500 grammes of cocaine hidden in the false bottom of a backpack destined for Italy.

In a related operation, NDLEA operatives in Rivers State arrested a 38-year-old suspected notorious drug dealer, Ugo Gift Okonkwo, at Eagle Island, Port Harcourt, following credible intelligence. The suspect was apprehended on Sunday, July 26, with assorted quantities of cannabis, cocaine, methamphetamine, Swinol, tramadol and codeine syrup.

In Anambra State, NDLEA officers conducting a stop-and-search operation at the DMGS Roundabout in Onitsha on Monday, July 27, intercepted a truck with registration number XK 131 BDG loaded with 26,000 bottles of codeine syrup weighing 3,960 kilogrammes. The driver, Chinedu Nwanze, 40, was arrested.

Similarly, operatives recovered 331.84 kilogrammes of skunk from a Toyota Sienna bus with registration number KUJ 26 DV along the Kwale-Ughelli Expressway in Delta State on Sunday, July 26.

In Nasarawa State, NDLEA officers arrested Joseph Nwaeke, 64, on Tuesday, July 28, at Asso Angwan Muazu in the Karu area, where they recovered 68 kilogrammes of skunk and 29 grammes of methamphetamine.

In Zamfara State, NDLEA operatives on patrol along the Zaria-Gusau Highway on Monday, July 27, intercepted Sani Umar, 27, who was conveying 7,400 tablets of 225mg tramadol suspected to have been intended for supply to criminal elements, including bandits.