NDLEA intercepts 1.6m tramadol pills in Lagos
…arrests 80-year-old grandfather
By Precious Mark
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dealt a massive blow to a transnational drug trafficking syndicate, intercepting 1,630,000 pills of tramadol 250mg concealed in fabricated compartments of two long trailers across multiple borders into Lagos.
The cross-border operation also led to the arrest of an 80-year-old grandfather in Rivers State, a businesswoman smuggling synthetic cannabis from Canada, a couple running a drug warehouse in Edo State, and a Chadian national involved in the distribution network.
This was disclosed in an official statement issued on Sunday by the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi.
According to the agency, the intelligence-led interdiction comes barely a week after operatives recovered 558,900 pills of the same psychoactive substance from a truck that sneaked into Lagos from Togo through the Benin Republic route.
The first of the two newly intercepted trailers, which was already heading to Kano, was tracked and stopped on July 2, 2026, along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
NDLEA officers recovered 853,000 pills of tramadol 250mg hidden beneath the cargo floor and arrested the 22-year-old driver, Jabir Kabiru. Two days later, on July 4, the second Kano-bound trailer was intercepted on the same highway, yielding 777,000 pills and resulting in the arrest of another 22-year-old driver, Muhammed Nuhu.
Investigations revealed that the three trucks intercepted between June 21 and July 4 belong to the same syndicate operating along the Togo-Benin Republic-Nigeria corridor.
In a related development at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos, the agency intercepted 4.70 kilograms of “Canadian Loud”—a potent synthetic strain of cannabis. The shipments arrived from Canada aboard British Airways and Ethiopian Airlines flights on June 24 and July 3, packed in cartons with the name “Odugwu” boldly written on them.
Following the initial arrest of cargo agents Ali Rotimi Samson and Orimolade Oluwagbenga, as well as a logistics receiver, Edeh Onyeamachi Stanislus, operatives eventually closed in on the actual owner, 44-year-old businesswoman Chioma Nneka Mokeme. She was arrested on July 7 in Surulere, Lagos, in collaboration with the Area C Command of the Nigeria Police. Chioma, who claims to run a printing business, confessed that a Canada-based friend, Agbons Collins, introduced her to the illicit trade.
Meanwhile, the NDLEA’s dragnet extended to Rivers State, where operatives arrested an octogenarian, Chika Ugwoji, at Ahoada on Tuesday, July 14. The 80-year-old grandfather was caught in possession of 800 grams of skunk.
In Edo State, operatives raided an illicit drug warehouse along Sapele Road in Benin City on Monday, July 13, arresting a couple: Christian Chukwuka, 32, and Nwanneka Christian, 33.
The raid yielded 22 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 219.5kg and compressed blocks of Canadian Loud weighing 192.67kg.
Furthermore, a Chadian woman, Hajara Abdullahi, 38, and her Nigerian accomplice, Abdulkarim Jidda, 44, were nabbed in the Apapa area of Lagos. Their arrest followed the interception of 50,000 pills of tramadol 225mg in Kogi State on Sunday, July 12, which investigators successfully linked back to the duo.
Alongside the enforcement operations, the agency sustained its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) social advocacy campaign, delivering sensitization lectures to students and staff of various secondary schools across Katsina, Enugu, Lagos, Rivers, Ekiti, and Kano states over the past week.
Reacting to the successful operations, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the officers and men of the MMIA, Lagos, Rivers, Edo, and Kogi Commands.
He noted that their relentless efforts have significantly advanced the nation’s drug control objectives and charged them to maintain absolute vigilance at all times.