…uncovers 20.5kg cocaine hidden in cups, body cream and hair gel containers
…destroys over 24,000kg of cannabis in Edo and Osun forests
By Nkechi Eze
In a major breakthrough that underscores its relentless war against drug trafficking, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has successfully dismantled two powerful cocaine cartels behind six United Kingdom-bound shipments of the illicit substance. The coordinated operations, which spanned over three weeks across Lagos, led to the arrest of five suspects and the eventual capture of the cartel’s arrowhead, Alhaji Hammed Taofeek Ode, who had been posing as a businessman and real estate developer.
According to an official statement signed by the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the fall of the criminal network began on September 16, 2025, when NDLEA operatives at the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, intercepted 174 parcels of cocaine weighing 13.40 kilograms concealed within the walls of cocoa butter body cream containers. A cargo agent linked to the shipment was immediately arrested. Further investigations traced the consignment to Alhaji Hammed Taofeek Ode, the mastermind behind the syndicate’s operations.
Following weeks of intelligence gathering, the Agency established that Ode had earlier reported a dispute at the Zone 2 Police Headquarters in Lagos, prompting NDLEA to collaborate with the police to bring him into custody. During interrogation, Ode admitted ownership of the consignment, which he confessed to have purchased for over ₦150 million. He identified himself as a businessman and estate developer who returned to Nigeria from the United Kingdom in 2024 after spending over 27 years across various European countries including Austria, the Netherlands, France, Germany, and Saudi Arabia.
In a similar operation, NDLEA operatives at the MMIA Strategic Command thwarted five other attempts by another criminal syndicate to export cocaine consignments to the UK. The unraveling of this second gang began on September 26 following the seizure of 2.10 kilograms of cocaine concealed in hair cream containers at the airport’s export shed. The arrest of a cargo agent led investigators to the syndicate’s consignor, Smith David Korede, a furniture maker residing at 3 Arowojobe Street, Mafoluku, Oshodi, Lagos. A subsequent raid on his premises on September 30 yielded another 1.40 kilograms of cocaine intended for export to the UK. On the same day, NDLEA officers also intercepted an additional 1.00 kilogram of cocaine similarly hidden in hair cream containers, with another cargo agent confirming Korede as the consignor, bringing to three the total cocaine consignments linked to him.
Two more UK-bound consignments were intercepted on October 2, also at the MMIA export shed. Two suspects, Ogunbiyi Oluseye Taiwo and Popoola Francis Olumuyiwa, were promptly arrested. One shipment contained crayfish and twelve stainless steel cups used to conceal one kilogram of cocaine, while the second carried crayfish and thirty-six hair cream containers used to hide 1.60 kilograms of the drug.
In another intelligence-led operation, NDLEA operatives foiled a criminal attempt to smuggle 6.3 kilograms of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis concealed in bedsheets and hibiscus flowers from Thailand into Lagos. Similarly, a joint NDLEA-Customs operation along the Danbatta-Daura Road in Kano on October 2 led to the arrest of 38-year-old Sa’adu Ali and the seizure of 290,450 pills of Tramadol 250mg and Pregabalin capsules.
The NDLEA’s offensive also extended to other parts of the country. In Lagos, a notorious dealer known as SammyBless, real name John Igbe was arrested on September 30 at Admiralty Road, Lekki, with 550 grams of Colorado, a synthetic variant of cannabis, already packaged in retail cups. That same day, three other suspects Idris Lukman, Fuad Abdulsalam, and Mobolaji James were arrested in Mushin with 109 kilograms of skunk, 20 bottles of codeine syrup, and 2 kilograms of nitrous oxide. Another raid at the Trade Fair Complex in Alaba led to the recovery of 3,700 bottles of codeine syrup and 550,000 caplets of expired 225mg diclofenac.
In Kwara State, 27,700 pills of Tramadol 100mg and 225mg were seized from a suspect, Salisu Abubakar, 25, at Bode Saadu, Moro LGA, on September 29. In Kaduna, Blessing Ovaka, 50, was caught with 498.5 kilograms of skunk at Kudandan in Chikun LGA on the same day, while 27-year-old Dahiru Salisu was arrested with 34,180 Tramadol capsules along the Kaduna–Zaria road on October 2.
In Ogun State, NDLEA operatives on September 29 raided Isheri in Obafemi Owode LGA, arresting one Abubakar Audu with 112 kilograms of skunk and 16 grams of Tramadol. On October 2, three suspects Chuimieze Shedrack, 28; Sunday John, 25; and Solomon Okopko, 27 were arrested in the Owena/Ijesha forest reserve in Osun State, where officers destroyed 14,000 kilograms of skunk cultivated on 5.6 hectares of cannabis farmland and recovered another 142 kilograms of the substance.
The Agency also intercepted a Toyota Sienna vehicle in Edo State on October 1, loaded with 22 bags of skunk weighing 244.5 kilograms at Igbanke, Orhionwon LGA. The driver, 28-year-old Ineh Excellent Obindi, was arrested on the spot. On October 3, NDLEA operatives destroyed 10,897.35 kilograms of skunk across four farms spanning 4.35 hectares at Ugbodo Forest, Ovia North East LGA, arresting two suspects identified as Michael Ayang, 40, and Bernard New Year, alias Don, 47. They also recovered 223.5 kilograms of processed cannabis and seeds from the sites.
In Kogi, operatives on patrol along the Okene–Lokoja highway intercepted a waybill parcel from Lagos bound for Abuja containing 3.27 kilograms of Loud and a sachet of Colorado. A follow-up operation at the Gwagwalada park in Abuja led to the arrest of the owner, 34-year-old Tobi Odubote, while another suspect, Ismail Abdurrahim, 32, was apprehended with 25.5 kilograms of skunk along the Abaji–Abuja expressway on October 2.
Meanwhile, NDLEA Commands and formations nationwide continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization campaigns, reaching schools, markets, workplaces, and religious centers. Recent activities included lectures at Government Day Secondary School, Hammawa Toungo in Adamawa; Government Day Secondary School, Kankara in Katsina; Day Secondary School, Unguwan Nasarawa in Kontagora, Niger State; and traders at Ladega Market, Ikorodu, Lagos. In Imo State, the NDLEA Command paid a WADA advocacy visit to the State First Lady, Barrister Chioma Uzodinma, at the Government House, Owerri.
Speaking on the sustained onslaught, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the professionalism and tenacity of officers involved in the series of operations. “We’ll continue to target and dismantle every identified drug cartel at every level of their operations, from the mules to the dealers in between and up to their leadership,” he stated. “These successful operations should serve as a warning that NDLEA will not relent until the threat posed by the menace of substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking is eliminated because every arrest, seizure, and asset forfeited by the criminal syndicates signifies innocent lives saved and communities protected either here in Nigeria or in other jurisdictions.”
Marwa also lauded the officers and men of MMIA, DOGI, Kano, Edo, Kwara, Kaduna, Ogun, Osun, Kogi, and FCT Commands for their unflinching dedication to duty and their balanced approach to Nigeria’s national drug control efforts.
