The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted 1.63 million pills of tramadol concealed in two articulated trucks heading to Kano from Lagos, dealing another major blow to a transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating along the Togo–Benin Republic–Nigeria corridor.
According to an official signed statement by the Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, the intelligence-led operation is part of the agency’s sustained efforts to dismantle an international drug trafficking network responsible for smuggling large consignments of tramadol into Nigeria through neighbouring West African countries.
The statement said the latest seizures came barely a week after NDLEA operatives recovered 558,900 tramadol pills concealed in the false bottom compartment of another truck that entered Lagos through the same route.
It explained that the first of the two trailers was intercepted on 2 July 2026 along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, where operatives recovered 853,000 pills of tramadol 250mg hidden in a fabricated compartment beneath the cargo floor. The 22-year-old driver, Jabir Kabiru, was arrested during the operation.
The statement added that a second trailer was intercepted on the same highway on 4 July while travelling to Kano. NDLEA officers recovered another 777,000 pills of tramadol 250mg concealed in a fabricated compartment beneath the cargo floor and arrested the driver, Muhammed Nuhu, also 22 years old.
According to the agency, investigations revealed that the three trailers intercepted on 21 June, 2 July and 4 July belonged to the same transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating along the Togo–Benin Republic–Nigeria axis.
In another operation, NDLEA operatives intercepted two consignments of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis weighing a combined 4.7 kilograms, at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
The consignments, which arrived from Canada aboard British Airways and Ethiopian Airlines flights, were concealed in cartons labelled “Odugwu.” The operation initially led to the arrest of cargo agents Ali Rotimi Samson and Orimolade Oluwagbenga, while another suspect, Edeh Onyeamachi Stanislus, was apprehended after attempting to collect the consignments from a logistics company.
Further investigation led to the arrest of 44-year-old businesswoman Chioma Nneka Mokeme, identified as the owner of the consignments, during a joint operation with the Nigeria Police Area C Command in Surulere, Lagos. She reportedly told investigators that a friend based in Canada introduced her to the illicit drug trade.
The statement further disclosed that NDLEA operatives in Rivers State arrested an 80-year-old suspect, Chika Ugwoji, at Ahoada after recovering 800 grams of skunk from him.
In Edo State, operatives raided a suspected drug warehouse along Sapele Road in Benin City, arresting a couple, Christian Chukwuka, 32, and Nwanneka Christian, 33. Recovered during the operation were 22 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 219.5 kilograms and compressed blocks of Canadian Loud with a combined weight of 192.67 kilograms.
Similarly, a 38-year-old Chadian woman, Hajara Abdullahi, and her Nigerian accomplice, Abdulkarim Jidda, 44, were arrested in Lagos after investigations linked them to a consignment of 50,000 tramadol pills intercepted earlier in Kogi State.
Beyond enforcement operations, the agency said its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy campaign continued across the country with sensitisation programmes held in schools in Katsina, Enugu, Lagos, Rivers, Ekiti and Kano states to discourage drug abuse among young Nigerians.
The statement noted that the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended officers and men of the MMIA, Lagos, Rivers, Edo and Kogi Commands for the successful operations, describing the seizures and arrests as significant contributions to the agency’s ongoing drug control efforts. He also urged personnel to remain vigilant and sustain the momentum in the fight against illicit drug trafficking and abuse.
