NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.) announced that the agency has intercepted 2.7 kg of cannabis concealed in dried onions destined for export to Dubai via a postal firm. In addition, operatives seized 1,205,260 opioid pills in two separate interdiction operations in Kogi and Gombe states.
Spokesperson Femi Babafemi said officers at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos disrupted a drug syndicate operating between Nigeria, East Africa and Europe, arresting two cartel members. On Monday, 13 March, airport staff intercepted Ejezie Ifеanyi during the screening of passengers arriving on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Malawi via Addis Ababa. A search of his luggage revealed a false bottom in one of his bags. During a preliminary interview, the suspect disclosed that a syndicate associate was waiting for him in the airport car park. A follow‑up operation led to the arrest of Chukwu Bright, who was waiting in a grey Mercedes‑Benz C180 (plate EKY 973 GQ) to receive the consignment. A subsequent search of the bag recovered three kilograms of heroin. Babafemi noted that the network links Nigeria with Malawi, Mozambique, East Africa and Europe. Chukwu, a Lagos resident, coordinates the recruitment and movement of drug mules for cartel members based in Mozambique and Malawi, while another cell operates from southeastern Nigeria.
On Wednesday, 15 March, NDLEA operatives at the SAHCO export shed of the MMIA seized a jerry‑can of palm oil bound for Dubai that concealed 600 g of cannabis sativa. The consignor, Tunde Ogunbowale, was arrested on the spot. In the same period, the agency thwarted an attempt to export 2.7 kg of cannabis packaged as dried onions through a courier company, seizing a carton filled with colorful sachets of the onions.
In Kogi State, officers seized 530,160 tramadol pills and 99,000 diazepam tablets along the Okene‑Abuja highway from bus driver Suleiman Oyedokun, 41, who was traveling from Onitsha, Anambra State to Kontagora, Niger State on 13 March. On the same day, NDLEA officers intercepted 576,100 tramadol pills hidden in bags of rubber slippers at a trailer garage on Old Mile 3 Road, Gombe metropolis, Akko LGA. Four suspects—Usman Suleiman, Ya’u Yusuf, Saidu Suleiman and Abubakar Umar—have been arrested in connection with the seizure.
In Kaduna, 367 kg of cannabis sativa were recovered from a vehicle bearing registration FKJ 141 DX. Two suspects, Monday Suleiman, 62, and Sama’ila Mohammed, 30, were arrested, and a bribe of N1,200,000 offered to NDLEA officers was documented as evidence for prosecution.
Finally, on 15 March in Delta State, officers arrested 52‑year‑old local distiller Ebi Akpotudua at Ugbrooke by River Road, Warri. She was found with 19.5 L of “monkey tail,” a cocktail drink produced from cannabis sativa and dry gin, along with 22.2 kg of cannabis.
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