Abuja Dispatch Rider Arrested With Cocaine, Loud

…As NDLEA Seizes N3.99bn Drugs, Arrests 34 Suspects Across Eight States

The Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), has confirmed the arrest of 34 suspects across Lagos, Ogun, Kano, Abuja, Oyo, Edo, Yobe, and Anambra States during operations between September 7 and 11, 2025.

The agency retrieved a total of N3.99bn worth of drugs and intercepted large quantities including over 2.6 million tramadol pills, 6,029 bottles of skuchies, 4,232kg of cannabis, 196 litres of Akuskura, 17kg of skunk, 13.9kg of methamphetamine, and several other psychoactive substances.

The report, released on Sunday and signed by the NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Mr. Femi Babafemi, confirmed that no fewer than 2.6 million pills were recovered during the operations.

According to the NDLEA, traffickers employed multiple smuggling models, including concealment in multi-vitamin cartons, vehicle spare parts, food items, picture frames, and courier packages, as well as trafficking via passengers at airports and motorcycles across borders.

On Thursday, September 11, NDLEA officers swooped on a clearing agent and two drivers attempting to move 2.5 million tramadol pills disguised as multi-vitamins from the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.

The consignment, worth ₦3.99 billion, had arrived aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Delhi, India, on Monday, September 8.

A follow-up operation on Friday, September 12, led to the arrest of the Indian businessman, Gupta Ravi Kumar, believed to be the consignee, alongside three Nigerian accomplices: Ogunlana Noah Olanrewaju, Olushola Idrees Kayode, and Bakare Korede Muheeb.

In Ikorodu, Lagos, operatives acting on intelligence raided a factory producing skuchies, a blend of cannabis and black currant drink, where they recovered 6,029 bottles of the substance and 4,232kg of cannabis.

The factory manager, Joy Awosika, was arrested, while another suspect, Akeem Oriola, was apprehended in Mushin with 26kg of skunk.

On September 11, NDLEA arrested a dispatch rider, Godsplan Vincent, 29, during a stop-and-search operation in Abuja’s Utako area with 50.7 grams of cocaine and 66 grams of Loud.

The same day in Kano, operatives intercepted Basiru Umar, 18, with 34.1kg of skunk, 493 tubes of rubber solution and 25 litres of “suck and die.”

Another suspect, Abubakar Adamu, 35, was found with 196 litres of Akuskura in Na’ibawa, while a separate highway interception at Gadar Tamburawa led to the arrest of Musa Shuaibu, 38, with 100,000 tramadol pills.

At Tincan Port, Lagos, a joint examination on Tuesday, September 9, uncovered 161 parcels of Canadian Loud weighing 81.7kg and 1.2kg of hashish oil concealed in a 40ft container of used vehicles and spare parts shipped from Montreal, Canada.

Two suspects, John Ochigbo, 53, and Okeke Kingsley, 26, were arrested. Another consignment weighing 65kg was later tracked to the Third Mainland Bridge, where operatives arrested Abubakar Ibrahim, 42, with the drugs in a Toyota Sienna.

On Monday, September 8, NDLEA operatives in Kano seized 100,000 tramadol pills and in Lagos, intercepted courier packages containing 6g of methamphetamine hidden in a picture frame bound for Gabon and 1.1kg of Loud concealed in video players bound for the UAE.

In Anambra, operatives arrested a couple, Nzube Onyedika, 41, and Ebele Onyedika, 42, after discovering 13.9kg of methamphetamine and 5.3kg of skunk in their residence at Obosi.

Another suspect, Nnamchi Tochukwu, 36, was also arrested with multiple drugs including tramadol, swinol, heroin, and meth.

In Yobe, Mohammed Auwal was arrested at Gadan Talakawa, Potiskum, with 22.1kg cannabis sativa, while in Ogun State, three trans-border traffickers — Kunyadi Kunle Ogbungbun, 24; Olalekan Adewale, 20; and Sanya Joshua, 22, — were caught with 394kg skunk at Imeko during a joint NDLEA-police-vigilante operation on Sunday, September 7. Three motorcycles used for trafficking were also confiscated.

In Edo, NDLEA operatives destroyed 16,966.633kg of cannabis on a 6.78-hectare plantation in Ugbogyi forest, Ovia South West LGA, and recovered 1,176kg processed cannabis.

Four suspects: Ebenezer Ewang, Oshore John, Emmanuel Monday, and David Sunday were arrested at the site.

At the Lagos airport on Sunday, September 7, NDLEA intercepted a passenger, Onyeganochi Stanley Ifeanyi, en route to Doha on a Qatar Airways flight with 900g of skunk hidden in crayfish.

He confessed that the bag was handed to him by Ohadiegwu Uchenna, who was also arrested. A hotel search led to the seizure of an additional 200g of skunk.

Abuja Dispatch Rider Arrested With Cocaine, Loud is first published on The Whistler Newspaper