By Omoyeni Ojeifo
More than 1.3 million pills of tramadol and other opioids and 6,000kg of cannabis have been taken off the streets by NDLEA operatives, cutting off a massive supply of substances capable of causing serious harm to the society.
The seizures, with a combined street value of more than N3.4 billion, were made in a string of major operational breakthroughs across Lagos, Edo, Niger, Delta, Ondo, Gombe, Imo and the FCT.
NDLEA Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, provided details of the operations in an emailed statement to PerSecondNews on Sunday.
Top on the line-up was the interception of 1,200 parcels of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, weighing 603.75kg and valued at N1,811,250,000.
The operation also led to the arrest of a 49-year-old trafficker, Innocent Ekpe, who allegedly impersonated a senior police officer to evade scrutiny at checkpoints while ferrying drugs across state lines.
Ekpe was arrested on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, along the Benin-Onitsha expressway in Asaba, Delta State, with 292.48kg of skunk hidden in his silver Toyota Sienna bus.
Investigation revealed that Ekpe had long paraded himself as Godwin Emeka, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, using a forged ID card to escape scrutiny at checkpoints while transporting illicit consignments.
His accomplice, 39-year-old Nduka Joseph, was also arrested during the operation.
Meanwhile, in Edo State, NDLEA operatives acting on intelligence stormed a location on Agbor Road, Benin City, where they arrested 45-year-old Matthew Ossai.
Ossai allegedly used his auto-repair workshop as a front for storing illicit drugs, with officers recovering 48kg of Canadian Loud and 152 grams of methamphetamine, alongside a metal box used to store the illicit substances.
At the Tin-Can Island Port in Lagos, a 40-foot container shipped from Montreal, Canada, and which arrived on September 12, was placed under intensive monitoring by NDLEA operatives based on processed intelligence.
The shipment was eventually subjected to a full joint physical examination with Customs and other security agencies on Wednesday, September 16.
The search uncovered 1,200 parcels of Canadian Loud weighing 603.75kg, concealed inside 31 black jumbo bags loaded within two Toyota Sienna vehicles in the container.
In another interdiction, NDLEA operatives on patrol along the Abuja-Kaduna expressway at Chachi, Tafa LGA, Niger State, on Tuesday, September 15, arrested three young suspects: Bashir Usman, 20, Abubakar Nuhu, 18, and Abdulrahman Abdulwahab, 18.
Two locally fabricated AK-47 rifles and a magazine, a locally made pistol with magazine and nine rounds of 9mm ammunition, concealed in a black travel bag, were recovered from them.
Similarly, two suspects, Aminu Isyaku, 23, and Jamilu Habibu, 25, were arrested on Friday, September 18, by NDLEA officers along the Abaji-Abuja highway.
Over 1.1 million assorted tramadol tablets and capsules, codeine syrup, methamphetamine and Exol tablets concealed in eight sacks were recovered from them.
The consignment was en route from Onitsha, Anambra State, to Mararaba, Nasarawa State.
In Lagos, suspect Onyeka Ofor was arrested on Friday, September 18, at his residence in Aguda, Surulere, with 48,900 pills of tramadol 225mg.
Seven cartons of cannabis sativa weighing 59kg were also intercepted at a logistics company, with a suspect, Luke Ugokwe, taken into custody.
On Thursday, September 17, in another operation in Lagos, Ibrahim Hudu, 43, was arrested at Apongbo with 998.38kg of nitrous oxide gas.
A total of 154,480 capsules of tramadol were recovered from two suspects, Sabi’u Umar, 27, and Hassana Muhammad, 19, who were arrested in the Barunde area and Gombe main market respectively in Gombe State on Friday, September 18.
A suspect, Ifesinachi Godwin, 25, was arrested along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Imo State with 43.85kg of skunk on Friday, September 18.
In Ondo State, four suspects, Blessing Effiong, Saviour Peter, David Friday Sunday and Ability Peter Sunday, were nabbed during a raid and destruction operation at a two-hectare cannabis farm in Ita-Ogbolu forest on Tuesday, September 15.
The operation led to the destruction of 5,000 kilograms of skunk, while no less than 48kg of dry and fresh cannabis was recovered from the location for the prosecution of the suspects.
Meanwhile, NDLEA Commands and formations also sustained their War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities during the past week.
The activities included enlightenment lectures for students and staff of St. Ferdinand School, Ogbomoso, Oyo State; Unizik Secondary School, Awka, Anambra State; Scholars Nursery and Primary School, Epe, Lagos; and Government Technical Training School, Jalingo, Taraba State.
The Delta Ports Command of NDLEA also paid a WADA advocacy visit to His Royal Majesty, King Couple Mackson Oromoni Mobene III, Pere Ama-Okosu of Ogbe-Ijoh Warri Kingdom, Delta State, among others.
NDLEA Chairman/CEO, retired Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended the officers and men of the Lagos, Tincan, Edo, Niger, Delta, Ondo, Gombe, Imo and FCT Commands for their professionalism and intelligence-driven operations.
Marwa urged the officers and their colleagues to sustain the current balanced approach to the Agency’s drug control efforts.