Officers from the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted a consignment of cannabis hidden inside a gallon of palm oil meant for Saudi Arabia at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano State.
In addition to the airport interception, the agency recovered 8,725 kilograms of powdered tramadol, valued at over 6.98 billion Naira, at the Apapa port in Lagos State. The bust was part of a series of nationwide operations that yielded massive quantities of cannabis and opioids across Lagos, Edo, Ondo, Bauchi, Kano, Kaduna, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, detailed the sweeps in an official statement released on Sunday.
The airport interception occurred on Friday, October 16, during the outward clearance of an Ethiopian Airlines flight heading to Jeddah via Addis Ababa. A female traveler, Fatimah Ahmad, was taken into custody after a search of her baggage uncovered 511.75 grams of cannabis hidden within a gallon of palm oil. Ahmad informed officers that her cousin, Abubakar Yahaya, had given her the container, leading to Yahaya’s swift arrest at the airport car park.
Meanwhile, at Lagos’s Apapa port, NDLEA personnel collaborating with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security bodies uncovered an incoming shipment of powdered tramadol from India on October 2. Though declared as maize starch, preliminary forensic laboratory tests confirmed the substance to be tramadol hydrochloride powder. Upon separation from its packing material on October 14, the consignment yielded 349 bags weighing a total of 8,725 kilograms, with an estimated street value exceeding 6.98 billion Naira.
Additional coastal interceptions included a October 12 discovery at the Tin Can Island Port in Lagos, where officers found 55 kilograms of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis worth 165 million Naira. The drugs were packaged in brown cartons and concealed inside a Toyota Sienna vehicle shipped in a 40-foot container.
On October 14, agency officers raided Idumota Market in Lagos, arresting Elizabeth Chidera Kalu and confiscating 10,600 ampoules of diazepam injection along with 6,500 tablets of Molly from her shop. The following day in Mushin, two 35-year-old men, Idowu Daudu and Ahmed Oniyinde, were arrested carrying 59.95 kilograms and 61.23 kilograms of cannabis, respectively.
Furthermore, on October 15, NDLEA operatives acting on intelligence intercepted a commercial truck along Iyana Oba coming from Trade Fair Market. The truck’s loading manager, Tajudeen Adeduntan, and his assistant, Azeez Sikiru, were taken into custody after searches uncovered 18,000 tramadol 250mg tablets hidden inside boxes marked as Rambo insecticide.
In Edo State, raids conducted between October 15 and 16 across the Warake, Ivhiaro, and Ewe/Irue communities in Owan East Local Government Area resulted in the arrest of six suspects alongside various illicit substances. Among those apprehended was 85-year-old Grace Ehimeka, caught with 179 kilograms of cannabis in Warake, and 53-year-old Ayo Aigberadion, found with 220.8 kilograms in Ewe/Irue. Other suspects included Ali Garba, 57, with 5.852 kilograms; Habib Braimoh, 45, with 100 grams; Musa Mubid, 35, with two kilograms of cannabis, seeds, tramadol, Swinol, and diazepam; and Hope Okoro, 35, with 237 grams of Canadian Loud.
In Ondo State, NDLEA personnel raided a farm at the Okemoro Isinbode camp forest on October 17, destroying 7,500 kilograms of cannabis planted across three hectares. Five individuals were arrested on site: Asikpo Ekpeyoung, 43; Solomon Okpani, 22; Ubong Friday, 35; Joseph Friday, 22; and Ekenimi Seth, 35. Total seized items from the farm included 92 bags of cannabis weighing 1,267 kilograms, 11 kilograms of seeds, and three kilograms of fresh stems, totaling 1,281 kilograms. In a separate operation in Owo on October 16, officers tracked 53-year-old Okunebe Ndidi to an Ameyinti hideout, retrieving 25 bags of cannabis weighing 375 kilograms.
In Bauchi State, officers intercepted a Volkswagen Golf wagon driven by 35-year-old Shamsu Garba at Ragwam village in Katagum Local Government Area on October 14, recovering 894,800 pills of tramadol capsules and Exol-5 tablets. That same day, highway patrols along the Bauchi-Gombe Road found an abandoned vehicle in Tudun Natsira village containing 291 blocks of cannabis weighing 265 kilograms.
In Kano State, Ali Abdullahi, 38, and Ibrahim Adamu, 23, were arrested along the Zaria-Kano Road on October 13 carrying 30,100 tramadol 225mg tablets. Another suspect, 54-year-old Murtala Dayyabu, was apprehended at Niger Street, Malan Kato, on October 14 with 100,000 Exol-5 tablets.
In Kaduna State, a raid in Kayimi village resulted in the arrests of Mohammed Sani, 48; Zaharadeen Shafiu, 29; and Yakubu Abdullahi, 20, along with 496.5 kilograms of cannabis. Elsewhere in Kaduna, at Food Palace on Ali Akilu Road, officers arrested 39-year-old John Ayo David with 49,500 tramadol 225mg tablets.
Finally, in Abuja, 42-year-old Odo Jonas Ejike was apprehended in the Utako district on October 17 carrying 29,500 tramadol capsules.
