In a series of high-stakes operations this week, Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has made significant arrests and seized large quantities of illicit substances, underscoring an intensified effort to dismantle drug trafficking networks operating both domestically and across borders.
At Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano, NDLEA operatives intercepted a 42-year-old Indian woman, Ms. Neetu Neetu, whose luggage concealed 72 parcels of heroin. Packaged in wafer wraps and deceptively presented as chocolates, the class A drug consignment weighed a total of 11 kilograms. “This seizure followed processed credible intelligence during an inward clearance of Qatar Airways flight QR1431 from Bangkok via Vietnam and Doha,” said NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi. The agency’s findings suggest that trafficking cartels are increasingly recruiting foreign nationals—referred to by Babafemi as “white ladies”—to ferry illicit drugs into Nigeria.
Kano was a hotspot for multiple interdiction efforts during the week. In a separate operation on the Zaria-Kano road at Gadar Tamburawa, officers arrested a 45-year-old suspect, Michael Ogundele, who was caught with a 50-litre steel gas cylinder. After using welding tools to breach the cylinder, investigators extracted 50,000 pills of tramadol 225mg. The crackdown continued with the arrest of Sunday Ogar, 40, in the Gunduwawa area, who was found in possession of a 27kg quantity of skunk—a potent strain of cannabis. Another female suspect, Khadijah Abdullahi, 40, was detained in the Lungun Bulala Yalwa area with 424 bottles of codeine-based syrup.
The momentum was not confined to Kano. In Lagos, a coordinated sweep led to the arrest of Olumuyiwa Kolawole and Samod Adisa in Mushin with 67.5kg of skunk, while 100.8kg of the same psychoactive substance was later recovered from the store of two suspects fleeing in Anifowoshe. Law enforcement efforts in Apapa also yielded a haul of 4.5kg of skunk, 600 grams of tramadol 225mg, and 30 litres of codeine syrup from Isah Idris, with another suspect, Yahaya Mohamed, apprehended in Ikotun carrying assorted quantities of cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine.
Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), NDLEA’s Chairman and Chief Executive, commended the diligent work of officers across the MAKIA, Lagos, and Kano Commands. “Our balanced approach to reducing both supply and demand of illicit drugs is yielding results,” he said, urging his teams to remain steadfast in their efforts.
In tandem with the enforcement operations, NDLEA Commands and formations intensified their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy initiatives across the nation. Sensitization engagements reached schools, markets, motor parts depots, workplaces, and worship centres, including lectures at Chrisland School in Ikeja, Hakimi Secondary School in Mokwa, and several institutions across Anambra, Ekiti, Sokoto, and Adamawa states.
As NDLEA continues its campaign against drug trafficking, the recent busts reflect both the agency’s operational capabilities and the broader challenges facing Nigerian authorities in combating the complex, transnational drug trade. With trafficking networks adapting to new methods, the law enforcement community remains resolute in its pursuit to secure Nigeria’s borders and protect public health.
