Susan Abayomi
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 48-year-old businessman, Nwankwo Innocent Onyebuchi, for allegedly attempting to smuggle 1.550 kilograms of cocaine to India through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
The suspect, who deals in marble business in Lagos, was arrested at the departure hall of Terminal II while preparing to board a Qatar Airways flight to New Delhi, India. NDLEA operatives discovered the cocaine concealed inside the walls and railings of his travel bag during a search.
According to the agency, Onyebuchi confessed that he sold his business and other assets to raise ₦23 million to purchase the drug, hoping to sell it in India for about ₦100 million.
In another major operation in Lagos, NDLEA officers uncovered a warehouse in the Ago Palace area of Okota containing 3,776 cartons of codeine-based syrup. The seizure, which comprised 377,600 bottles of the controlled substance, was valued at over ₦2.6 billion.
The agency also arrested a suspected drug kingpin, Shoremi Kayode, 55, at Ipaja, Lagos, where 324 kilograms of Colorado, a synthetic strain of cannabis worth ₦972 million, were recovered. Two vehicles — a Mercedes-Benz and a Toyota Corolla — were also seized.
Across other states, NDLEA operatives recorded significant breakthroughs. In Kwara State, two suspects, Abubakar Adamu, 50, and Bilyaminu Nuhu, 30, were arrested in Ilorin with 55.96 kilograms of cannabis concealed in a truck.
In Oyo State, a 70-year-old man, Abdulfatai Oyelaran, and another suspect, Abdulrauf Ajadi, 50, were arrested along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway with 52,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection and 6,000 ampoules of tramadol injection.
The agency also intercepted large quantities of opioids and other illicit substances in Delta, Plateau, Kano and Edo states. In Kano, six suspects were arrested with hundreds of thousands of tramadol and rohypnol pills, cocaine, methamphetamine, codeine syrup and synthetic cannabis.
Similarly, NDLEA officers recovered 239,490 capsules of tramadol along the Riyom/Jos Road in Plateau State, while cannabis farms in Edo State measuring over 1.8 hectares were destroyed, with more than 4,600 kilograms of cannabis seized.
The NDLEA said its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy campaign also continued across the country, with sensitisation programmes held in schools and communities to discourage drug abuse.
Commending officers involved in the operations, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), praised the agency’s commands nationwide for their efforts in reducing drug supply and demand.
Femi Babafemi
Director, Media and Advocacy
NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja
Sunday, August 16, 2026
