NDLEA Arrests Two Elderly Drug Dealers for Supplying Teenagers, Seizes Over 1.4 Tonnes of Cannabis

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested two elderly men, aged 84 and 75, for allegedly supplying illicit drugs to teenagers, including secondary school students, in separate operations across the country.

The arrests were among a series of major anti-narcotics operations that also led to the seizure of more than 1.4 tonnes of cannabis in Oyo State, the interception of synthetic drugs concealed in courier packages and ladies’ handbags, and the arrest of a wanted drug-dealing couple in Lagos.

NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed the developments in a statement on Sunday.

According to him, 75-year-old Godwin Obulunbiya Obiora was arrested in Umuahia, Abia State, following intelligence reports that he was selling illicit substances to students and other young people from his patent medicine store.

A search of the premises reportedly led to the recovery of more than four kilograms of opioids, including tramadol and diazepam.

In a related case, 84-year-old pensioner Godfrey Orji was apprehended after he was caught supplying illicit drugs to two teenage students of a secondary school in Umuahia.

Babafemi said security personnel at Saint Silas Secondary School intercepted Orji and handed him over to the police before he was transferred to NDLEA custody for further investigation.

One of the students, a 15-year-old Senior Secondary School Two (SS2) student, allegedly confessed that the elderly suspect regularly supplied him with drugs, which he consumed and also sold to fellow students.

The NDLEA described the development as disturbing, noting the growing trend of drug peddlers targeting young people and school-age children.

In Oyo State, operatives raided a residence in the Dangote Area of Elekara, Oyo Town, where a 75-year-old woman, Tudun Olubiyi, and two other suspects, Nasiru Buhari and Buba Musa, were arrested.

During the operation, officers recovered 118 jumbo bags containing 1,416 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis, concealed beneath sawdust.

The agency also recorded significant seizures at logistics and courier companies in Lagos.

Babafemi revealed that operatives intercepted a 9.5-kilogram consignment of ADB-CHMINACA, a highly potent synthetic cannabinoid classified as a dangerous new psychoactive substance, which had been shipped from China and concealed inside a carton.

In another interception, NDLEA officers discovered 300 grams of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis, hidden inside ladies’ handbags at a separate logistics company.

Meanwhile, a follow-up operation targeting a wanted drug dealer, Lukman Badmus, also known as “Lukman Ogombo,” led to the recovery of narcotics and related materials in Lagos.

NDLEA operatives raided his residence in the Ogombo area of Ajah, where they recovered nine bottles of codeine syrup and 30 grams of skunk.

Subsequent investigations led officers to a shop belonging to his wife, Aisha Saraki, on Lagos Island, where two additional bottles of codeine syrup and drug paraphernalia were recovered.

According to the agency, Saraki attempted to dispose of some of the exhibits by flushing them down a toilet during the operation, but officers prevented the destruction of evidence.

The NDLEA said the arrests and seizures underscore its sustained efforts to dismantle drug trafficking networks and protect young Nigerians from the dangers of substance abuse.