NDLEA Smashes Major Drug Trafficking Syndicates, Seizes Billions Of Naira Worth Of Drugs

Enugu/Lagos/Various Locations, Nigeria – The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has launched a major offensive against drug trafficking across Nigeria, resulting in several high-profile arrests and the seizure of drugs worth billions of Naira.

In a press statement released on Sunday, NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi detailed a series of operations carried out over the past week.

A significant arrest was made at Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, where 50-year-old businessman Osuoha Iheanacho was apprehended.

Following months of surveillance, Iheanacho, who operates a phone and accessories business in Lagos and Gabon, was intercepted upon arrival from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

He was found to have ingested 90 wraps of cocaine weighing 2.019 kilograms, which he excreted over seven days.

Iheanacho confessed to the crime, stating he needed the money to revive his struggling business. His complex travel route – from Gabon to Douala, Cameroon, then Addis Ababa before Enugu – was an attempt to obscure his movements, but he was already on the NDLEA’s watchlist.

In Lagos, a special operation unit dismantled a cocaine distribution cartel headed by 42-year-old Ndive Obinna.

Obinna and five associates were arrested in Okota, Isolo, with 2.412 kilograms of cocaine recovered.

Among those arrested were the syndicate’s stash keeper, Okeke Ifeoma, and others including Ikechebelu Chibuzor, Okorie Onyedikachi, Okonkwo Nnabugo, and Okafor Anita.

Another major bust involved the dismantling of a syndicate run by a Chinese national, 58-year-old Tianzhen Yen (alias Jackie).

Following the arrest of a 40-year-old suspect, Yakubu Mark, at the Gbaji checkpoint with 750 grams of cocaine, Yen was traced to his hotel in Ikeja, Lagos.

A search of his room yielded 4.3 grams of cocaine, one gram of methamphetamine, weighing scales, and identification documents.

At the Tincan seaport, NDLEA officers intercepted 23.25 kilograms of Loud cannabis concealed in two vehicles imported from Canada.

Furthermore, two containers of imported opioids were seized at the Port Harcourt Ports complex, Onne, containing 168,000 bottles of codeine syrup (valued at approximately N1.2 billion) and 4.5 million pills of tramadol (valued at approximately N3.2 billion), bringing the total value of the seized opioids to over N4.3 billion.

Other significant seizures include 286 grams of cannabis in Ekiti State, 64 kilograms in Oyo State, and over 1,200.5 kilograms in Edo State, resulting in several arrests.

In Kano and Bauchi States, operatives seized a combined total of 169 kilograms of cannabis, leading to several arrests.

NDLEA Chairman/CEO, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the agency’s officers for their successes and reiterated their commitment to both drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction.

The agency continues its nationwide War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization campaigns.