The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested 17 drug trafficking suspects across Kano, Lagos, Edo, Osun, Rivers, Katsina, Niger, Ondo, and Kaduna States during a series of coordinated operations between October 1 and October 11, 2025.
In total, the operatives recovered thousands of pills, injections, and consignments of cocaine, skunk, tramadol, and methamphetamine, alongside €945 (Nine Hundred and Forty-Five Euros) paid to one of the couriers for trafficking the substances to Europe.
The agency’s weekly operations report, released on Sunday and signed by the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Mr. Femi Babafemi, disclosed that over 180,000 pills and capsules were seized within the period, including 27,510 Rohypnol tablets, 150,000 Exol-5 pills, and 3,700 tramadol 225mg tablets, among others.
NDLEA said suspected traffickers concealed the seized items in food, herbal containers, alcoholic sachets, women’s handbags, car parts, and body ingestion, in their bid to smuggle the substances through airports, courier companies, and road transport.
A breakdown of the arrest revealed that NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, intercepted 27,510 pills of Rohypnol concealed in sachets of alcoholic drinks bound for South Africa.
Following the arrest of a freight agent and cab driver linked to the shipment, a follow-up operation at Oyingbo Market led to the arrest of the mastermind, Samuel Omoruyi (alias Yellow), 46, on October 2.
On the same day, operatives arrested an Italy-based businessman, Enehizena Augustine Uyimwen, while attempting to export 3,700 pills of tramadol 225mg and 2,600 tablets of tapentadol 200mg hidden in food items to Europe. Uyimwen confessed he was paid €945 for the job.
In Edo State, a raid on the home of Emmanuel Sunday, 33, at Ugbekpe Ekperi in Etsako Central LGA, led to the recovery of 47kg of skunk.
On October 8, Operatives at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) arrested Ejiofor Godwin Emeka, 52, a boutique owner from Lagos and Onitsha, Anambra State, upon arrival from Bangkok, Thailand, via Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 941.
Ejiofor was found to have 127 wraps of cocaine (1.388kg) concealed in his private parts and ingested into his stomach, later excreted under observation.
In Osun State, two suspects, Nureni Ayobami Eleweodo, 48, and Oladejo Taiwo, 52, were arrested at Omifufun village, Ife South LGA, with 635kg of skunk hidden in a Toyota Hiace bus.
Two others, Timothy Omiwole, 41, and Isaac Achiatan, 36, were also arrested at the same location with 100kg of skunk and a motorcycle recovered.
In Niger State, Yisa Daniel, 29, was arrested at New Bussa for possessing 22,000 capsules of tramadol, 800 ampoules of pentazocine injections, and 150,000 Exol-5 pills.
Between October 9 and 10, 2025 operatives busted a Lagos, Ondo, and Rivers States drug syndicate.
Babafemi said at a courier company in Lagos, NDLEA intercepted three consignments of illicit drugs heading to the United Kingdom on October 9–10.
One shipment contained 1.74kg of methamphetamine hidden in glass ceramics; another, 114g of pentazocine and 168g of tramadol injections; and a third, 48g of tramadol capsules concealed in Vitamin C containers.
Attempts by other syndicates to export 2.6kg of skunk and 422g of tapentadol hidden in black soap tablets to Turkey, 169g of cocaine concealed in handbags to Australia, and 568g of Loud (a potent cannabis strain) hidden in herbal containers to the UAE were thwarted.
Also, NDLEA operatives in Ondo State recovered 312kg of skunk from a bush camp at Ologede, Ogbese.
Meanwhile, along the Benin-Lagos expressway, operatives arrested Francis John, 39, and Adeyemi Taiwo, 46, in a vehicle conveying 141.8kg of skunk.
In Rivers State, Okoro Julius, 20, and Onyebuchi Nwibo, 25, were arrested in Port Harcourt with 8.5kg of skunk.
In Katsina, Sulaiman Kalalu, 46, was arrested at Bayan Asiti, Jibia town, after 29.5kg of skunk was found in his residence.
In Kaduna, NDLEA operatives arrested Rufai Ahmed, 27 (alias Farin Malam), at the Abuja–Kaduna toll gate, where he was transporting 150,000 pills of Exol-5 from Lagos to Katsina.
NDLEA’s Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) commended officers in the MMIA, MAKIA, DOGI, Kano, Edo, Rivers, Kaduna, Katsina, Niger, Ondo, and Osun commands for their professionalism and urged them to sustain the momentum in curbing illicit drug trafficking across the country.
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