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From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has foiled desperate attempts by members of drug trafficking organisations (DTOs) to move consignments of illicit substances, especially methamphetamine and opioids, concealed in the walls of cartons, winter jackets, and body cream containers to countries in Europe, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, and a courier firm in Lagos.
Femi Babafemi, the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, said in a statement yesterday that two of the consignments heading to Italy were to be moved through the Lagos airport, where two suspects linked to the shipments were promptly arrested.
One of them, 37-year-old Friday Ehianuka, was travelling to Rome, Italy, on Friday, March 20, 2026, when he was intercepted while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight with 2,698 pills of tramadol 225mg concealed in containers of skin-lightening body cream, all packed in his luggage.
In his statement, Ehianuka, who is a resident of Milan, confirmed that he was to be paid a negotiated fee in euros if he had succeeded in trafficking the consignment to Italy.
In another drug bust, NDLEA operatives at the departure hall of the Lagos airport on Wednesday, March 18, intercepted a passenger, Christian Agbonhese, who was attempting to board a Lufthansa Airlines flight to Milan, Italy.
Upon a thorough search of his luggage, no fewer than 23,150 pills of tramadol 225mg, 4,000 tablets of tapentadol 250mg, and 1,320 pills of tramadol 100mg, all concealed in two large winter jackets, were recovered, bringing the total number of opioids seized from him to 28,470 pills. The 38-year-old Agbonhese is also a resident of Milan.
At a courier firm in Lagos, NDLEA officers, on Monday, March 16, intercepted two parcels of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis weighing 1 kg, hidden in a carton shipped to Lagos from the United States.
Also thwarted was an attempt to export 158 grams of methamphetamine concealed in the walls of a carton to New Zealand.
In Kano, NDLEA operatives on Wednesday, March 18, arrested a suspect, Abdulkadir Mamuda, 35, with 102.5kg of skunk at Dan-Tsalle, while another suspect, Uche Johnson Festus, 47, was nabbed the same day at Naibawa Gabas with 95.5kg of the same psychoactive substance.
No fewer than 21,737 bottles of codeine-based syrup were recovered from a store at Otto, Ijora area of Lagos, when NDLEA operatives raided the area on Wednesday, March 18, while two suspects, Chidiebere Anigbogu and Paul Nwagbara, were arrested the same day on the 3rd Mainland Bridge, conveying 8,380 bottles of the same substance.
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While 97.5kg of skunk was recovered from the home of a suspect, Akeem Idde, 37, in Ojah, Akoko-Edo Local Government Area of Edo State, on Monday, March 16, NDLEA operatives, in Abuja on Wednesday, March 18, intercepted a commercial bus along the Gwagwalada Expressway in the FCT.
A thorough search of the vehicle led to the recovery of 91,840 pills of tramadol hidden in its body compartments. The bus driver, Aminu Ali, 27, was promptly taken into custody.
In Oyo State, a suspect, Bankole Bari, was arrested on Tuesday, March 17, at Oke-Oyan, Ibarapa Local Government Area, with 71.2 kg of skunk, which he smuggled into Nigeria from the Benin Republic through the Oyan River.
No fewer than 586,000 pills of tramadol and Exol-5 were recovered by NDLEA operatives from Lawal Anas, 28, along the Kaduna-Zaria highway, Kaduna, on Tuesday, March 17, while 7,290 tablets of tramadol 225 mg were seized from Musa Shuaibu, 22, at the same location on Friday, March 20.
Acting on credible intelligence, NDLEA operatives in Taraba State on Tuesday, March 17, intercepted a suspect, Aliyu Adamu, 26, along the Takum-Jalingo highway while conveying 77,660 capsules of tramadol to Gombe.
In Adamawa State, no fewer than six suspects were arrested in connection with the seizure of 82.8kg of tramadol in a truck in Yola on Tuesday, March 17.
The suspects, who are joint owners of the consignment, include Ramatu Aliyu, Jungudo Abdullahi, Najid Abdullahi, Musa Mohammed, Usman Abdulrahim, and Musa Mohammed. They were all arrested in swift follow-up operations.
In the same vein, commands and formations of the agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces, and communities in the past week.
These include WADA sensitisation lectures to students and staff of Girls High School, Abakaliki, Ebonyi; New State High School, Mushin, Lagos; Cornerstone Secondary School, Sankwala, Cross River; Community Secondary School, Ngwo-Uno, Udi, Enugu; and St John’s Academy, Ipokia Local Government Area, Ogun State, among others.
While commending the officers and men of the MMIA, DOGI, Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Edo, Oyo, FCT, Taraba, and Adamawa commands for the arrests and seizures, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa (retd), enjoined them and their colleagues across the country to continue with the ongoing balanced approach to the agency’s drug control efforts.
