NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.) announced that the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has seized a substantial quantity of heroin at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos. Businessman Kingsley Celestino, a 49‑year‑old native of Nnewi South, Anambra State, was arrested on Saturday, 4 March, at Terminal 2 while travelling on a Qatar Airways business‑class flight to India. He was carrying more than 9.40 kg of heroin hidden in false bottoms of two travel bags and used a Guinean passport obtained in Guinea Bissau, where he claimed his mother was from. NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy Femi Babafemi said preliminary investigations show Celestino frequently flies to India on business class tickets, alleging he is involved in the clothing trade between Nigeria and India.
In a separate incident, a 24‑year‑old passenger named Etounu Monday was intercepted at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja on 27 February during the outward clearance of Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 950. He attempted to export 1.924 kg of skunk concealed in cream tubes while travelling to Oman.
The agency also reported a major drug haul at the Tincan seaport in Lagos on 3 March. NDLEA operatives recovered 244 parcels of Canadian “Loud” weighing 79 kg, hidden inside medium‑size wooden sound‑system speakers packed in two of four used vehicles within container CRSU9258348, which arrived from Toronto via Montreal. The vehicles used as cover were a 2009 Jeep Wrangler and a 2009 Honda Ridgeline.
Further interceptions were made by NDLEA officers attached to courier firms in Lagos, who seized nine parcels of methamphetamine concealed in native black soap (Dudu Osun) bound for Europe. In Taraba State, operatives recovered 778,190 pharmaceutical opioid pills, including tramadol, and a 270 kg drum of methylene chloride from 33‑year‑old suspect Eric Pepe Yohanna in Jalingo on 27 February, following credible intelligence. A tricycle used for drug distribution was also seized.
In Adamawa State, a raid on the residence of notorious drug dealer Mamudu Njobdi on Sebore, Gyalla Road, Dougada ward, Mubi, early on 27 February resulted in his arrest and the seizure of drug exhibits. Njobdi, 31, had previously been arrested on 22 February at his Kolere water‑board drug den, but escaped after his thugs attacked NDLEA officers.
Additional arrests include Geoffrey Okpani, 31, detained in the Bukuru area of Jos, Plateau State, with 27.45 kg of cannabis; Ajayi Tope, 30, seized on 4 March in Area 5, Ile‑Ife, Osun State, with 18 kg of the same substance; and a large operation in Lagos on 3 March at De‑Niche Hotel & Suites, Omole Estate, Ojodu, Ikeja, where 24 suspects were arrested and various quantities of illicit drugs were recovered.
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