The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a convicted cocaine trafficker and intercepted a 20,000-litre fuel tanker containing 2,145kg of cannabis concealed in a specially designed compartment.
The arrests and seizure were recorded during a coordinated nationwide crackdown on illicit drug trafficking across nine states, which also yielded more than two million opioid pills and large consignments of cocaine, methamphetamine, cannabis and other psychotropic substances.
According to an official statement signed by Femi Babafemi, Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, operatives arrested 34-year-old Dunu Bethel Ebubechukwu in a sting operation at Article Market, opposite Trade Fair Market, Ojo area of Lagos, on Friday, September 4, 2026.
The suspect was allegedly the mastermind behind a 1.2kg cocaine shipment concealed in phone chargers and destined for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The consignment was intercepted at a courier company in Lagos on July 31, prompting an intelligence-led investigation that eventually led to his arrest.
The agency said Ebubechukwu admitted masterminding previous illicit drug shipments and disclosed that he discarded his telephone SIM card after learning that his latest consignment had been intercepted.
Investigations further revealed that the suspect had previously been arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, in 2011 after ingesting 900 grammes of cocaine and 130 grammes of heroin while attempting to travel to Austria.
He was subsequently prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment before allegedly returning to the illicit drug trade under a new name.
A search of his residence in Ejigbo, Lagos, led to the recovery of phone chargers similar to those allegedly used to conceal the Saudi-bound cocaine shipment, with their internal components removed to create space for the drugs.
In Ondo State, NDLEA operatives intercepted a 20,000-litre fuel tanker marked MKA 960 XC along the Akoko/Lokoja Expressway after the driver allegedly refused to stop.
The driver later abandoned the tanker at a church premises in Ugbe Akoko and fled into the bush. A search of the vehicle uncovered a concealed compartment containing 165 bags of cannabis weighing 2,145kg.
The cannabis was reportedly hidden alongside the tanker’s legitimate fuel cargo, which was destined for Jos, Plateau State.
The operation was part of a wider crackdown that also saw NDLEA operatives recover 966,200 tablets of Tramadol 225mg, valued at more than N1.1 billion, from a consignment arriving from Pakistan at the Lagos airport.
The tablets were concealed among thrift trousers in a 21-carton shipment.
Another 57.8kg of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis valued at more than N173 million in street value, was recovered from cartons of disposable hand gloves in a shipment from Singapore.
At the Tincan Port in Lagos, the agency intercepted 598.08kg, comprising 890 packets, of cannabis-laced cookies and gummies in a 40-foot container, linking the consignment to three suspects already in custody over an earlier seizure of 842.54kg of cannabis-infused cookies.
In Adamawa State, NDLEA operatives recovered 864,000 opioid pills, particularly Tramadol, from a residence linked to a fleeing suspect, while another suspect, Calistus Ebubechukwu, 35, was arrested with 2kg of methamphetamine in Michika.
The agency also reported several other seizures and arrests across Lagos, Kogi, Taraba, Kaduna, Bauchi, Ekiti and Enugu states.
Commending the officers involved in the operations, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), praised their professionalism and intelligence-driven approach.
Marwa urged personnel to sustain the agency’s balanced drug control strategy, combining enforcement with prevention and public sensitisation.
“Traffickers who believe they can reinvent themselves under new identities or legitimate business fronts will continue to be tracked down,” he said.
The NDLEA said the latest operations underscore its continued efforts to dismantle drug trafficking networks, disrupt the movement of illicit substances and ensure that offenders are brought to justice.
