The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has uncovered fresh attempts by international drug traffickers to smuggle cocaine concealed in a local mortar and a backpack, while recording multiple arrests and major drug seizures across several states in a nationwide crackdown on illicit drug trafficking.
According to an official statement signed by the Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, operatives of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigations (DOGI) intercepted the cocaine consignments at a Lagos logistics company on Thursday, July 30, 2026.
The agency said officers discovered 250 grams of cocaine factory-fitted into the base of a locally made mortar packaged for export to China, while another 500 grams of the illicit drug was recovered from the false bottom of a backpack destined for Italy.
The latest interceptions formed part of a series of successful operations carried out by the agency across the country over the past week.
In Rivers State, NDLEA operatives arrested a 38-year-old suspected drug dealer, Ugo Gift Okonkwo, at Eagle Island in Port Harcourt following credible intelligence. Recovered from him were quantities of cannabis, cocaine, methamphetamine, swinol, tramadol and codeine syrup.
In Anambra State, officers on stop-and-search duty at the DMGS Roundabout in Onitsha intercepted a truck with registration number XK 131 BDG conveying 26,000 bottles of codeine syrup weighing 3,960 kilograms. The truck driver, Chinedu Nwanze, aged 40, was arrested.
Similarly, in Delta State, operatives recovered 331.84 kilograms of skunk from a Toyota Sienna bus along the Kwale-Ughelli Expressway, while in Nasarawa State, a 64-year-old suspect, Joseph Nwaeke, was arrested with 68 kilograms of skunk and 29 grams of methamphetamine in the Karu area.
In Zamfara State, NDLEA patrol teams intercepted a 27-year-old suspect, Sani Umar, along the Zaria-Gusau Highway while conveying 7,400 tablets of 225mg tramadol believed to be intended for criminal elements operating in the area.
Beyond enforcement operations, the agency said it sustained its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign through sensitisation programmes in schools, transport parks and communities. Awareness lectures were delivered to students and staff of Hausawa Special Primary School in Kano, Royal Crown School in Oluyole, Ibadan, Government Secondary School in Ibi, Taraba State, and commercial drivers at the Challenge Bus Terminal Park in Ibadan.
Commending the officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigations as well as the Rivers, Anambra, Delta, Nasarawa and Zamfara Commands for the successful operations, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), urged personnel across the country to sustain the agency’s balanced strategy of drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction through intensified enforcement and public education.
