•••Nabs businesswoman, Chadian, couple, others in Edo, Kogi, Rivers interdiction operations
Kamsi Anayo and Attah Ede
The Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) operatives in Rivers state has arrested an 80-year-old grandpa, Chika Ugwoji for dealing in illicit substances.
Femi Babafemi, Director, Media and Advocacy Headquarters, Abuja made the disclosure in a statement on Sunday
He said the Octogenarian was found in possession of 800 grams of skunk at the time of his arrest at Ahoada on July 14.
He added that the ongoing efforts to dismantle a transnational drug trafficking syndicate smuggling tramadol from Togo, through Benin Republic into Nigeria have yielded another success with the interception of two long trailers used to move One Million Six Hundred and Thirty (1,630,000) pills of tramadol 250mg concealed in fabricated compartments of the trucks across multiple borders into Lagos.
The intelligence-led interdiction operation came barely a week after NDLEA operatives recovered 558,900 pills of the same psychoactive substance from the false bottom compartment of a truck that came into Lagos through the Togo-Benin Republic route.
Babafemi noted that one of the two trucks already heading to Kano was tracked and located on July 2, 2026 along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway where NDLEA officers recovered 853,000 pills of tramadol 250mg concealed in a fabricated compartment beneath the cargo floor of the trailer and arrested the 22-year-old driver Jabir Kabiru.
Two days later, 4th July, NDLEA operatives acting on processed intelligence successfully tracked and recovered the second trailer from the Lagos-Ibadan expressway while heading to Kano.
A total of 777,000 pills of tramadol 250mg concealed in a fabricated compartment beneath the cargo floor of the truck were evacuated and the 22-year-old driver Muhammed Nuhu arrested.
Investigations revealed that all three trucks and consignments intercepted on June 21, 2nd July 2 and July 4 belong to the same transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating along the Togo-Benin Republic-Nigeria axis.
Two consignments of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, with a combined weight of 4.70 kilograms have been intercepted at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja Lagos.
The cargoes which arrived the Lagos airport from Canada in cartons with ‘Odugwu’ boldly written on them came aboard British Airways flight and Ethiopian Airlines flight on 24th June and 3rd July respectfully.
Two cargo agents: Ali Rotimi Samson and Orimolade Oluwagbenga linked to the shipments were initially arrested following which another suspect Edeh Onyeamachi Stanislus who showed up to take delivery of the consignments from a logistics company was also nabbed.
A 44-year-old businesswoman, Chioma Nneka Mokeme who is the actual owner of the consignments was eventually arrested on July 7, 2026, in collaboration with the Area C Command of the Nigeria Police, Surulere Lagos.
Chioma who claimed she is into printing business said her friend Agbons Collins who lives in Canada introduced her into the criminal trade.
He added that, a couple – Christian Chukwuka, 32, and Nwanneka Christian, 33, – were on July 13 arrested following a raid of their illicit drug warehouse along Sapele road, Benin City, Edo State, where 22 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 219.5kg and compressed blocks of Canadian Loud with a gross weight of 192.67kg were seized.
Babafemi added that a Chadian woman, Hajara Abdullahi, 38, and her Nigerian accomplice Abdulkarim Jidda, 44, were nabbed in Lagos following the seizure of 50,000 pills of tramadol 225mg intercepted in Kogi state on July 12.
The consignment was eventually linked to the two suspects who were traced to Lagos and arrested in Apapa area of the state.
