NDLEA Seizes 4 Million Pills, Arrests 25 Suspects Across 10 States

The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa (Rtd) said 25 suspects were arrested and illicit substances valued at over N7.8bn were confiscated in a week-long operation ending Saturday, August 16, 2025.

The raids were carried out across Delta, Enugu, Lagos, Gombe, Kogi, Taraba, Kaduna, Rivers, Edo, and Kano states.

The operatives retrieved multiple consignments of drugs including skunk, tramadol, rohypnol, ketamine, codeine-based syrup, Ghana Loud, Canadian Loud, cocodamol, and trodol benzhexol weighing over 51,949.9kg.

According to the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, a total of 3,986,940 pills were recovered during the operations.

Babafemi noted that traffickers employed various smuggling models which ranged from concealment in buses, warehouses, homes, containers, and distribution vehicles to open farmland cultivation and highway transportation.

On Sunday, August 10, NDLEA operatives in Delta State arrested a notorious drug kingpin, 36-year-old Sunday Ibigide, who had been on the run since March 2022 over drug trafficking offences.

He was apprehended in Asaba alongside his aide, 27-year-old Clement Osuya, while attempting to transport “250 blocks of skunk weighing 138kg” with his distribution bus.

Ibigide had earlier been linked to the seizure of 24.137kg of skunk and 10 grams of molly in 2022 before going underground.

On Monday, August 11, NDLEA officers arrested Sani Mohammed, 32, at Jauro Jatau, Gombe State, with 128,000 capsules of tramadol, while on the same day, operatives at Gbaji checkpoint along the Badagry-Lagos highway intercepted 4,320 ampoules of ketamine injection and arrested Akeem Adegun.

In another raid, the NDLEA operatives assisted by the Sardauna Emirate Council and Nigeria Forest Hunters Security Service on Tuesday, August 5, raided the Tanmiya forest in Sardauna LGA, Taraba State, where they destroyed 11,250kg of skunk on 4.5 hectares of farmland.

By Wednesday, August 13, a string of seizures was recorded across states.

Providing details, operatives in Lagos state, arrested a 52-year-old woman, Muyibat Mumuni, and her son, Faruk Mumuni, 25, in possession of 298 blocks of Ghana Loud weighing 149kg.

In Kano, operatives along the Zaria-Kano road arrested Tahiru Madu Manga, 25, with 16kg of skunk, and Ibrahim Audu, 47, with 76kg of the same drug at Gadar Tamburawa.

While in Edo, officers seized 24 bags of skunk weighing 432kg along the Warake-Auchi road in Etsako West LGA.

On Thursday, August 14, NDLEA operatives, supported by the military and vigilantes, raided three cannabis farms in Enugu Ezike, Enugu State, destroying 37,500kg of skunk on 15 hectares of farmland and arresting six suspects:

The joint operation led to the arrest of Ugwuanyi Chinaso, 23; James Negedu, 26; Sopuruchukwu Obido, 22; Ebuka Onu, 30; Ukwueze Sunday, 42; and Oguche Friday.

In Edo, another 130kg of skunk was seized at a warehouse in Sobe, Owan West LGA.

At the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne, Rivers State, NDLEA operatives on Friday, August 14, recovered 875,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup worth over N6.1bn and 3,500,000 pills of trodol benzhexol valued at N1.7bn from five containers during a joint examination with the Customs Service and other security agencies at the West Africa Container Terminal (WACT).

That same day in Lagos, Emmanuel Samuel was arrested in Ajah, Lekki, with 8.5kg of Canadian Loud.

On Saturday, August 16, NDLEA officers recorded multiple arrests in Enugu, Taraba, and Kaduna.

At 9th Mile, Enugu, 53-year-old Emmanuel Ayogu was caught with 20,700 pills of tramadol and cocodamol, while Nsubechukwu Achidde, 24, and Osiaja Simple Frank, 41, were arrested with 27.6kg of skunk at the New Market.

In Taraba, Saleh Babangida, 20, was arrested with 29,840 capsules of tramadol at a Wukari checkpoint.

In Kaduna, operatives intercepted 22,640 pills of tramadol and rohypnol from Mohammed Amdife, 46, and Sulaiman Mohammed, 22, while Caroline David, 51, and Abdulhadi Umar, 30, were nabbed with 111.1kg of skunk along the Zaria-Kano road.

On the Okene-Lokoja highway in Kogi State, officers seized 337,800 capsules of tramadol from a commercial bus driven by 47-year-old Sulaiman Oyedokun, who was travelling from Onitsha to Kotangora.

Marwa commended officers across the ten states for the arrests, seizures, and their operational dexterity.

He urged them and their colleagues across the country to sustain NDLEA’s balanced and relentless approach to drug control.

NDLEA Seizes 4 Million Pills, Arrests 25 Suspects Across 10 States is first published on The Whistler Newspaper