NDLEA Seizes N3bn Worth Of Illicit Drugs, Arrests Two Togolese, 10 Others

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested two Togolese nationals and several other suspects while intercepting illicit drugs valued at more than N3 billion in operations across different parts of Nigeria within one week.

The agency said the arrests and seizures were recorded in Lagos, Oyo, Bauchi and Edo states between September 22 and 26, 2026.

Among those arrested were 35-year-old Yinusa Abdulsamad and 33-year-old Fatai Baba, both Togolese nationals, who were apprehended on Saturday, September 26, along the Iganna-Ilero Road in Iganna, Oyo State.

The NDLEA said the suspects were found with 305.6 kilogrammes of skunk concealed in two pickup trucks allegedly being used in a cross-border trafficking operation to move cannabis sourced from Ghana into Nigeria through the Oyo axis.

In Lagos, NDLEA operatives at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport uncovered a major opioid consignment during the joint examination of three monitored consignments on September 22.

According to the agency, the shipment contained 2.55 million pills of Tramaking 225mg, Tramaking 250mg and Royal Tapentadol 250mg, with a combined gross weight of 1,640.55kg.

The consignments were reportedly imported from India and Bangladesh through Qatar Airways, RwandAir and Ethiopian Airlines.

In Bauchi State, NDLEA operatives arrested Umar Hamidu, 35, and Abdulkarim Salihu, 45, along the Maiduguri bypass. They were allegedly found with 300 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 262.5kg, concealed in a false-bottom compartment of a truck with registration number MUB757 YH.

The agency also reported the destruction of two cannabis farms at Eko Camp in Ilushi, Edo State, on September 23, with soldiers providing support for the operation. The farms were estimated to have a combined yield of 1,360.23kg of cannabis.

In Lagos, operatives raided Anifowoshe Street in Mushin on September 26, arresting Odumabo Kehinde, 36, and Obiekwe Chioma, 40, with 3.4kg of skunk.

Also in Lagos, NDLEA officers intercepted 58-year-old Ugwu Johnson at Ebute-Ero motor park. The agency said he was carrying 5.92kg of skunk, 2,400 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 8,400 nitrazepam tablets and 40,000 tramadol pills.

At the Seme border in Badagry, NDLEA operatives arrested five men and seized 420 cartons of nitrous oxide, popularly known as laughing gas, weighing 1,688.4kg.

The suspects were identified as Kingsley John, 40; John Chibuike Okeke, 44; Lamidi Ismaila, 40; Babatunde Samuel, 42; and Afeesu Idowu, 47.

The agency also seized two vehicles allegedly used to transport the nitrous oxide consignment from the border into Lagos.

The NDLEA said the operations formed part of its ongoing efforts to disrupt the trafficking, distribution and cultivation of illicit drugs across the country.