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From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
After a seven-year manhunt, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a wanted 60-year-old drug kingpin, Okpara Paul Chigozie, as he was attempting to ship large quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine to the Southeast and other parts of the country.
Okpara, who has been on the NDLEA’s wanted list since 2019, was nabbed at his hideout at 72 Michael Ojo Street, Isheri, in the Ojo area of Lagos State on Sunday, July 13, 2025, following the interception of some of his consignments at 5:45 a.m. the same day at Ilasamaja along the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway.
In the early morning operation, a team of NDLEA officers, acting on credible intelligence, arrested one of Okpara’s couriers, 51-year-old Achebe Kenneth Nnamdi, while heading to Onitsha, Anambra State, in a white Toyota Sienna vehicle.
The agency’s sniffer dogs were subsequently brought in to search the vehicle, after which 7.6 kilograms of cocaine and 900 grams of methamphetamine were found hidden in body compartments of the space bus.
A follow-up operation was promptly carried out at Okpara’s hideout in Isheri, where an additional 1.8kg of cocaine and 1.3kg of methamphetamine were recovered from his residence.
At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, NDLEA operatives, in a joint operation with Aviation Security personnel of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), on Wednesday, July 16, recovered 7,790 pills of tramadol and rohypnol from the luggage of an Italy-bound passenger, Omoregie Nice Uyiosa.
The suspect, who was going to Italy via Istanbul on a Turkish Airlines flight, claimed he purchased the drugs himself, hoping to sell them in Italy at higher prices.
In another arrest at the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives at the export shed on Thursday, July 17, intercepted 17 parcels of skunk, a strain of cannabis, weighing 1.70kg, concealed in packs of popular cereal, Golden Morn, going to Pakistan as part of a consolidated cargo.
A suspect, Chioba Robert Uchenna, who presented the consignment for shipment, was arrested.
In Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Saturday, July 19, raided Sarah Sam Hotels located at 115 Ogudu Road in Kosofe, where different party drugs are being distributed and sold.
The raid followed credible intelligence and surveillance, which confirmed a suspect, Obayemi Oyetade, as the head of the drug network.
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At the time of the operation, 1.30kg of chocolate cannabis, 900 grams of gummies, and 22.9 grams of skunk were recovered from Obayemi’s room in the hotel, which is a 20-room facility run as a family business, housing his mother and siblings. Other items recovered from the hotel include three vehicles.
Three suspects, Onyeka Madu, Monday Nwadishi, and Emmanuel Madu, were arrested on Saturday, July 19, during an intelligence-led raid at Narayi High Cost area of Chikun LGA, Kaduna State, where 742.866 kilograms of skunk and Colorado, a synthetic strain of cannabis, were seized from them.
In Kano, Lawan Rabiu was nabbed with 36,000 pills of tramadol along Danbatta-Kazaure Road on Wednesday, July 16.
While a total of 25,000 pills of tramadol and Exol-5 were recovered from a suspect, Aliyu Abubakar, at Gombe Roundabout on Friday, July 18, the duo of Mohammed Adamu and Furaira Idris were arrested the same day with 49 blocks of compressed skunk that weighed 29kg at Kwadom, Yemaltu Deba LGA, Gombe State.
In Borno, NDLEA officers on patrol along Baga Road, Maiduguri, on Saturday, July 19, intercepted 74,360 pills of opioids in a Mercedes Benz C180 car marked GUB 409 AA and arrested Audu Modu, 44, in connection with the seizure, while in Bayelsa State, a 63-year-old grandmother, Akuna Nelson, was arrested on Thursday, July 17, at Osiri area of Yenagoa in connection with the seizure of 163 litres of skuchies.
Four suspects, Ikechukwu Abugu, 42; Sunday Ani, 18; Chukwu Christian, 46; and Emmanuel Olisakwe, 55, were arrested on Thursday, July 17, by NDLEA operatives along the Okene-Lokoja Highway, Kogi State, in connection with the seizure of 2kg of methamphetamine recovered during a search of their vehicle coming from Onitsha, Anambra State, to Minna, Niger State.
In Abia State, NDLEA officers on Monday, July 14, raided the base of a notorious drug dealer, Nduka Obi, 39, at 4 Niger Street, Ugwa Road, Aba, where various quantities of tramadol, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and a total of N736,000 monetary exhibit were recovered from him.
While a total of 45,000 pills of tramadol were seized from a suspect, Chisom Okpalaeke, 30, by NDLEA operatives on patrol along the Onitsha-Enugu Expressway, Enugu State, on Wednesday, July 16, officers of the Taraba State Command of the agency, on the same day, apprehended the duo of Ngwokwoka Thomas, 44, and Mohammed Audu, 44, with 10,000 capsules of tramadol and a gram of cannabis at Dan Anacha, Gassol LGA.
The War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) social advocacy activities by NDLEA Commands continued across the country in the past week.
Some of them include: WADA sensitisation lecture delivered to students and staff of Government Day Secondary School, Badeggi, Niger; Dah Model Academy, Ngurore, Adamawa; Icon Academy, Nsukka, Enugu; Government Technical College, Nkpor, Anambra; and Madrisatul Tahfizul Qur’an Wa Ulumud Deen, Jaba Fagge, Kano State; among others.
While commending the officers and men of MMIA, SOU, Lagos, Kaduna, Osun, Bayelsa, Gombe, Borno, Abia, Kogi, Enugu, and Taraba Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures of the past week, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa (Rtd), also praised their counterparts in all the commands across the country for intensifying a fair balance between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.
