By Nkechi Eze
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 62-year-old Lagos-based businessman, Nwabueze Nicholas Izueke, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano, while attempting to traffic cocaine to China by ingestion. The arrest was part of a series of coordinated operations that also led to the interception of methamphetamine concealed in Mp3 speakers and yogurt packs, the dismantling of a synthetic cannabis factory in Ibadan, and multiple high-profile seizures across the country.
Izueke was arrested on Saturday, 31 January 2026, during the outward clearance of passengers travelling to China via Addis Ababa on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET940. According to an official statement signed by the Director, Media and Advocacy of NDLEA, Mr. Femi Babafemi, the suspect was subjected to a body scan after raising suspicion, which confirmed the presence of illicit substances in his system. He was immediately placed under medical observation for excretion.
While under observation, the suspect expelled a total of 95 jumbo-sized wraps of cocaine in seven excretions. The recovered drugs weighed 1.589 kilograms. In his statement to investigators, Izueke, who claimed to be into clothing and auto spare parts business in Lagos, confessed that he ventured into drug trafficking in a bid to raise funds to complete a country home he is building in his hometown of Iwollo, Enugu State.
In a related operation in the Federal Capital Territory, NDLEA operatives recovered 627.7 kilograms of skunk, a potent strain of cannabis, from a makeshift warehouse located within Fums Plaza, Kubwa. Meanwhile, attempts by a syndicate to smuggle methamphetamine concealed in Mp3 speakers from Enugu to Abuja and Kaduna were thwarted on Friday, 6 February, when NDLEA officers intercepted the consignments in a commercial bus in Abuja.
A follow-up operation in Zuba, FCT, led to the arrest of Ebube Okeke, identified as the owner of one of the parcels containing 173 grams of methamphetamine. The remaining members of the syndicate Evans Ugwu, Mohammed Eze Arinze and Friday Michael were arrested on Saturday, 7 February, in Kaduna when they arrived to collect the second consignment weighing 28 grams of meth.
Similarly, at the Dan-Anacha patrol point in Gassol Local Government Area of Taraba State, NDLEA officers on Friday, 6 February, intercepted a 32-year-old suspect, Yusuf Abubakar, who was conveying packs of Hollandia yogurt from Lagos to Mubi, Adamawa State. Acting on credible intelligence, officers searched the consignment and discovered wraps of methamphetamine concealed in some of the yogurt packs. The drugs weighed 1.8 kilograms.
In Oyo State, NDLEA operatives on Thursday, 5 February, arrested a 29-year-old Beninoise, Shuaibu Abdulrahman, at Ibudo-Igboho village, Sooro Kishi, where 149.6 kilograms of skunk concealed in rice shafts were recovered. In a separate operation in Ibadan, a suspect, Adeniyi Adeola, also known as Prince, was arrested at Foko, Agbeni Market, on Wednesday, 4 February. Recovered from his truck marked BDJ 767 YC were 10,820 ampoules of pentazocine injection and 117,820 capsules of tramadol.
Also in Ibadan, NDLEA dismantled a synthetic cannabis (Colorado) production facility at Badeku area, where a drug kingpin, Jimoh Nurudeen, 40, was arrested on Saturday, 7 February, alongside his accomplice, Ogundipe Yusuf, 27. Items recovered include eight litres of precursor chemicals, 14 grams of skunk, various production paraphernalia, a cash exhibit of ₦7,408,400, and two vehicles a Mercedes-Benz SUV with registration number ABC 832 AZ and a Toyota Highlander marked RBC 243 BS.
In Kwara State, NDLEA operatives on Saturday, 7 February, intercepted a fuel tanker conveying petrol from Lagos to Maiduguri, Borno State. A thorough search of the vehicle led to the recovery of 395,400 capsules of tramadol concealed within compartments of the petrol-laden truck, while the driver was taken into custody.
Elsewhere, a couple Izuchukwu Azubuike, 37, and Ifunaya Mmadueke, 32 were arrested at Umuaka, Njaba Local Government Area of Imo State on Saturday, 7 February, with 203 kilograms of skunk. In Ondo State, operatives on Friday, 6 February, recovered 420 kilograms of skunk abandoned in a bush at Ikun Akoko.
At the Marine Command of NDLEA, operatives seized 31 wraps of cocaine concealed in a handbag from a suspect, Eze Nodebechi Austin, upon his arrival from Côte d’Ivoire in a passenger boat at Yekeme, Badagry, Lagos State, on Friday, 6 February. In another Lagos operation, a suspect, Adekunle Oluwatosin Olajide, was arrested at Lagos Island on Wednesday, 4 February, with 3.6 kilograms of Canadian Loud and Colorado.
In Enugu State, NDLEA officers arrested a 37-year-old drug dealer, Emeka Okeke, at his hideout on Akuruka Street, Asata, Ezeagu. Various quantities of skunk, methamphetamine, cocaine and molly, alongside a cash exhibit of ₦457,700, were recovered from him.
Meanwhile, NDLEA Commands nationwide sustained their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaigns in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities over the past week. These included enlightenment lectures at Agulu Awka Community Secondary School in Anambra State, Okeodo Community High School, Igboora, Oyo State, and Wisdom Foundation Secondary School, Ado, Lagos, as well as an advocacy visit by the Niger State Command to the Emir of Suleja, Alhaji Mohammed Auwal Ibrahim.
Commending the officers and men of the MAKIA, Marine, FCT, Taraba, Oyo, Kwara, Imo, Ondo, Lagos and Enugu Commands for the arrests and seizures, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), urged them and their colleagues nationwide to sustain the current level of professionalism, vigilance and commitment in both drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.
