The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a Lagos-based businessman suspected of masterminding an international cocaine trafficking network, as the agency recorded a string of major drug seizures and arrests across Nigeria.
The suspect, 55-year-old Onuigbo Ndubisi Chinedu, a clothing trader at Balogun Market on Lagos Island, was arrested on July 23 after NDLEA operatives intercepted 3.3 kilograms of cocaine concealed inside cartons of food items destined for the United Kingdom at the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA).
NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi said investigations began with the arrest of three cargo agents who processed the shipment. Their interrogation led officers to another suspect who allegedly delivered the consignment before investigators traced the operation to Onuigbo, who was arrested while allegedly preparing another cocaine shipment for export.
In a separate operation, NDLEA arrested 31-year-old entrepreneur Emmanuella Chukwu-Edo in Surulere, Lagos, after intercepting a 2.8kg consignment of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, imported from the United States aboard a United Airlines flight.
The agency also made one of its largest pharmaceutical drug seizures, 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 seizure followed intelligence-led operations and came shortly after officers intercepted another consignment of tramadol concealed inside containers of black soap and bound for the UK.
At the Apapa Seaport, operatives uncovered 4,777 sachets of Canadian Loud weighing 2,388.5kg and valued at more than ₦7.1 billion. The illicit drugs had been hidden inside three vehicles loaded into a shipping container.
Beyond drug enforcement, NDLEA operatives intercepted military-grade ammunition in Katsina and Kaduna states. In Katsina, officers arrested a suspect with 323 rounds of ammunition, while another suspect was apprehended on the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway with 73 rounds concealed inside kegs of red palm oil. Both suspects and the recovered ammunition have been handed over to the appropriate security agency for further investigation.
In Edo State, NDLEA raided a warehouse in Ilushi, Esan South-East Local Government Area, recovering 1,286kg of cannabis and 86kg of cannabis seeds. Two additional suspects were arrested with separate quantities of skunk during the operation.
The agency also sustained its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign with sensitisation programmes in schools and communities across Niger, Kano and Lagos states.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers involved in the operations and urged commands nationwide to continue combining aggressive drug enforcement with public awareness campaigns in the fight against drug trafficking and abuse.