By Omoyeni Ojeifo
In a sweeping crackdown on drug trafficking networks, NDLEA operatives uncovered multiple supply lines stretching from local cannabis farms and motor parks to international cargo routes.
The agency intercepted several shipments of synthetic cannabis—commonly known on the street as “Colorado”—hidden inside consolidated freight from the UK.
A major breakthrough occurred at Lagos’ Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), where officers intercepted 32.20kg of the drug concealed in 27 parcels.
Follow-up operations at two Lagos motor parks yielded additional consignments hidden in music speakers and resulted in the arrest of seven suspects.
A real estate agent, Abideen Jide Salami, who showed up with a secret collection code relayed by his UK-based brother to collect a large luggage containing the illicit substance, was arrested on Wednesday, September 9, 2026.
A follow-up operation stemming from a second UK consignment led operatives to the designated recipient of another consignment of Colorado weighing 12.25kg.
The suspect, Nurudeen Abiodun Kadiri, 44, said the consignment was sent to him by his brother in the UK.
Details of the operations were contained in a statement emailed to PerSecondNews on Sunday by the Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) intercepted a music speaker rigged with three packs of Colorado at a motor park in Maza Maza, Lagos, heading to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, and ultimately Liberia.
A tour agent, Ifeanyi Obed Augustine, 41, and the consignment’s owner, Obasi Ugochuckwu, 46, were both arrested after a swift sting operation at a nearby eatery.
In a separate operation at Iddo Park, a suspect, Ifeanyi Nwokolo Henry, was on Friday, September 11, nabbed while attempting to dispatch 2.1kg of Colorado to Kano.
Beyond Lagos, two separate arrests at Ughelli and Asaba, Dejta State, yielded a haul of ampoules of pentazocine injection, codeine syrup, tramadol, diazepam, flunitrazepam (Hypnox) and MDMA (Molly), with several of them concealed in music speakers.
Two suspects, Emeka Oji and Chukwuebuka Anedi, were arrested in connection with the recoveries.
The crackdown also extended to Kano State, where ta raid at Sabon Gari led to the arrest of a 20-year-old suspect, Saidu Adamu, with a staggering 785,000 capsules of Pregabalin weighing 669.425kg.
A stop-and-search operation along the Zaria–Kano–Hadejia road also netted 1,700 tablets of diazepam concealed inside loaves of bread, seized from Habibu Sabitu, 28.
In Plateau State, 51-year-old Chinedu Uzor was nabbed at Katako Market, Jos, with 157,100 capsules of tramadol.
The agency also sustained pressure on illicit cannabis cultivation with the destruction of 4,832.56kg of skunk on cannabis farms at Usen Forest, Igwe-Oke Forest and Ogboha Forest, in Ovia South West, Owan East and Owan West Local Government Areas of Edo State.
A suspect, Sunday Segun, 39, was arrested on Friday, September 11, in connection with the operation.
Also in Ondo State, NDLEA officers acting on credible intelligence on Wednesday, September 9, raided a residence along Oke-Iya, Ijoka Road, Akure, where they recovered 186kg of skunk concealed in the boot of a Toyota Avalon car marked ABJ 917 FV.
The consignment was recovered from 58-year-old suspect Paul Ogbuwala, who was planning to move it to Jos for onward distribution.
In Kaduna State, a female suspect, Hannah Michael, was arrested at Gonin Gora with 369.6kg of cannabis.
Similarly, in Bayelsa State, four suspects, including a 70-year-old woman, Godwoman Gboriye, were arrested at Ovom, Yenagoa, with 110 bags of cannabis weighing 876kg.
The other suspects are Motombo Silver, 44; Pere Andrew, 39; and Keme Andrew, 43.
With the same vigour, Commands and formations of the agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities, among others, during the past week.
These included WADA enlightenment lecture to students and staff of Mezube Islamiyya Academy, Tudun Wada, Kano.
There was also WADA advocacy visit to the management of Cross River State College of Health Technology, Calabar.
The NDLEA Academy in Jos hosted Rikkos traditional rulers who were on a thank-you visit to the academy for allowing community members to use the agency’s clinic.
The Zone 4 Command of NDLEA also paid a WADA advocacy visit to the Emir of Keffi, Alhaji Shehu Chindo Yamusa III, Keffi, Nasarawa State, among others.
While commending the officers and men of DOGI, MMIA, Ondo, Edo, Delta, Kaduna, Plateau, Bayelsa and Kano Commands for the various successful operations, Chairman/CEO of NDLEA, retired Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa enjoined them and their colleagues across the country to continue with the ongoing balanced approach to the drug control efforts of the agency.
He urged them to continue to shut every pipeline being used by drug cartels, whether at the airports, seaports, land borders or in the hinterland where cannabis is cultivated.