The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a Lagos-based businessman allegedly behind an international cocaine trafficking network, as the agency recorded multiple high-profile drug seizures and arrests across several states.
The suspect, 55-year-old Onuigbo Ndubisi Chinedu, a clothing trader at Balogun Market, Lagos Island, was arrested on July 23 following investigations into an attempt to smuggle 3.30 kilograms of cocaine to the United Kingdom.
According to a statement by the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, operatives had intercepted the cocaine a day earlier at the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), where it was hidden inside the walls of cartons containing food items bound for the UK.
Investigators initially arrested three cargo agents — Nkwor Onyekachukwu Justina, Adeleke Abiola Taoheed and Ukanwa Grace Pilgrim — who processed the shipment.
Their interrogation reportedly led officers to Kenneth Okakpu, who allegedly delivered the consignment for export, before further investigations identified Onuigbo as the suspected mastermind.
NDLEA said the businessman was arrested while allegedly preparing to send another shipment of cocaine to the United Kingdom.
In another operation, operatives arrested 31-year-old entrepreneur Emmanuella Chukwu-Edo at her Surulere residence after intercepting a 2.80kg consignment of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, which arrived from the United States aboard a United Airlines flight.
The agency also recorded one of its biggest pharmaceutical drug seizures after recovering 2.24 million pills of Tapentadol 250mg, valued at over ₦2.2 billion, from a shipment that arrived from India on an Air Maroc flight.
The drugs were uncovered during a joint cargo examination following intelligence gathered by the agency.
NDLEA further intercepted another shipment of tramadol concealed inside containers of black soap and destined for the United Kingdom.
At the Apapa Seaport in Lagos, operatives made another major breakthrough after discovering 4,777 sachets of Canadian Loud weighing 2,388.5kg, with an estimated street value of more than ₦7.1 billion.
The illicit drugs had been hidden inside three vehicles loaded into a shipping container.
Beyond drug enforcement, NDLEA operatives also intercepted military-grade ammunition during separate operations in Katsina and Kaduna states.
In Katsina, officers arrested Mustapha Sani, 30, after recovering 323 rounds of ammunition, while another suspect, Abubakar Amadu, was arrested along the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway with 73 rounds of 7.62mm RLA ammunition concealed inside kegs filled with red palm oil.
The agency said both suspects and the recovered ammunition had been handed over to the appropriate security authorities for further investigation.
Meanwhile, in Edo State, NDLEA officers raided a warehouse in Ilushi community, recovering 1,286kg of cannabis and 86kg of cannabis seeds.
Two suspects — Ojore Onweze and George Agwumede — were also arrested during the operation with additional quantities of skunk in their possession.
Aside from enforcement operations, the agency continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign by organising awareness programmes in schools and communities across Niger, Kano and Lagos States.
Commending the officers involved in the operations, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), urged personnel nationwide to remain committed to the agency’s strategy of combining aggressive enforcement with public sensitisation.
“Sustain the agency’s balanced approach of combining drug supply reduction with public sensitisation in the fight against drug abuse and trafficking,” Marwa charged the officers.
The latest operations highlight the NDLEA’s continued crackdown on drug trafficking networks and other related crimes across the country.
