…intercepts drugs concealed in microwaves and lipsticks
By Nkechi Eze
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted multiple illicit drug consignments and arrested several suspects in a sweeping nationwide operation that uncovered creative concealment methods and dismantled a key trafficking network.
In one of the operations, NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, intercepted parcels of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis, concealed in new microwaves imported from Thailand. According to a signed statement by the Agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the consignment, which was part of a consolidated cargo that arrived in two tranches aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Bangkok, Thailand, via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was flagged based on credible intelligence. A thorough search conducted on Monday, July 7, 2025, led to the recovery of 23 parcels of Loud weighing 11.3kg hidden within the microwaves. A suspect, Ezenwegbu Chike, was arrested in connection with the seizure.
Just a week after seizing 420 grams of cocaine concealed in 84 pieces of female lipsticks headed to the United Kingdom, NDLEA operatives at the airport’s export shed intercepted another lipstick-based concealment. This time, a consignment destined for Malabo, Guinea, and disguised within a cargo containing hair attachments, face powder, and other beauty items, was found to contain 400 grams of cocaine and phenacetine, a known cutting agent. The drugs had been factory-fitted into ladies’ lipsticks. Following the seizure, a businessman operating from the Trade Fair Complex in Ojo, Lagos, identified as Ezeikwelume Prince Afam, was arrested on Friday, July 11, 2025.
In a major breakthrough for the Agency, a notorious drug kingpin, Okechukwu Izugha, also known as Okey Omeogo, who had been on the run for 12 months, was finally apprehended in Lagos by operatives of the NDLEA Special Operations Unit. Izugha was arrested on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, at his wife’s shop in Ijesha Market, Lagos. He had been declared wanted following the recovery of 9kg of cocaine from one Obiora Joseph Agudosi on August 7, 2024, at a motor park in Orile, Lagos. Investigations had linked the consignment to Izugha. His wife, Maureen Izugha, had earlier been arrested on January 21, 2025, with 500 grams of cocaine at her beverage store in the same market. She was subsequently convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment. Believing the coast was clear, Izugha resurfaced, unaware that the Agency was still trailing him, and was promptly arrested.
Elsewhere in Edo State, NDLEA operatives destroyed no fewer than 28,054.053 kilograms of skunk cultivated on three farms measuring over 11 hectares located in Ewere Uzebba forest, Owan West Local Government Area. The operation, conducted on Tuesday, July 8, 2025, also led to the recovery of 82kg of already processed cannabis. On their way out of the forest, the operatives came under gunfire from armed members of the drug cartel. The attack was repelled, and although one operational vehicle was riddled with bullets, no officers were harmed.
In another operation in Lagos, 1,400 compressed blocks of Ghana Loud weighing 700kg were recovered alongside a Ford delivery truck marked JJJ 698 YJ at Okun-Ajah Beach. Two suspects, Innocent Ejidiobo and Friday Paul, were arrested on the Ajah-Epe expressway on Friday, July 11. Items recovered from them included 26kg of Ghana Loud, 123 grams of methamphetamine, 45 grams of Molly, and a delivery van bearing registration number AJK 191 LG.
NDLEA operatives in Borno State also made significant seizures. On Saturday, July 12, they arrested a 42-year-old suspect, Godwin Chimaobi Nwaobi, at Njimtilo, Maiduguri, with 18,759 ampoules of pentazocine, along with tramadol and rohypnol pills. This followed an earlier seizure on Wednesday, July 9, of 10,000 pills of tramadol from a suspect, Abdulrahman Bello Ahmadu, aged 34.
In Gombe State, a total of 116,226 pills of tramadol and D-5 were recovered from five suspects, Hafiz Bello, 22; Isah Suleman, 48; Kabiru Muhammed, 30; Abdullahi Adamu, 30; and Abel Murna, 25. These arrests occurred at the Gombe main market and along Gombe-Kano road on Tuesday, July 8, and Saturday, July 12.
The Agency also intercepted large quantities of skunk in Kogi and Kaduna States. In Kogi, a suspect named Sabiu Bala was arrested along the Okene-Lokoja expressway on Thursday, July 10, while conveying 316.600kg of skunk. In Kaduna, Haladu Suleiman, 38, was nabbed with 58.805kg of the same substance in the Gubuchi area of Ikara Local Government Area.
In Taraba State, NDLEA officers arrested three suspects Auwal Ibrahim, 30; Lukman Ibrahim, 18; and Hamza Adamu, 25; on Saturday, July 12, at the Lanka Viri checkpoint. They were caught with 577,890 pills of opioids and 1.160kg of skunk hidden in the tyre compartment of a petrol tanker marked MUB 334 YH. The operation was based on credible intelligence and followed an earlier arrest on Tuesday, July 8. In Kano State, three other suspects Shamsudini Abdullahi, 35; Adamu Abdullahi, 21; and Magaji Rabo, 26 were arrested with 48.1kg of skunk at the Janguza Barracks area on Wednesday, July 9.
Meanwhile, the NDLEA continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) social advocacy campaign across the country. Sensitisation lectures were delivered to students and staff of several schools including Word of Promise High School, Calabar, Cross River; Government Girls Arabic Senior Secondary School, Indabo Wudil, Kano; Community Secondary School, Umundu, Enugu; Okemagba Senior High School, Epe, Lagos; Bishop Gideon Otubelu Memorial College, Ukpo, Anambra; and to traditional rulers in Bende area of Abia State.
Commending the dedication of officers and men across various commands, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), lauded the operatives from MMIA, the Special Operations Unit, and those in Edo, Lagos, Taraba, Kano, Kogi, Gombe, Borno, and Kaduna States for their achievements over the past week. He also praised their counterparts in other parts of the country for maintaining a critical balance between efforts to reduce the supply of drugs and demand reduction through public education.
