NDLEA arrest herbal tea merchant behind Saudi- bound cocaine shipment in Lagos

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a convicted cocaine trafficker who allegedly returned to the illicit drug business after reinventing himself as a herbal tea merchant and masterminding the shipment of 1.2 kilogrammes of cocaine to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The suspect, identified as 34-year-old Dunu Bethel Ebubechukwu, was arrested in a sting operation at Article Market, opposite Trade Fair Market, Ojo, Lagos, on Friday, September 4, 2026 after weeks of intelligence-led tracking by the Agency’s Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI).

The cocaine consignment, concealed inside phone chargers, was intercepted at a courier company in Lagos on July 31, 2026 and was allegedly destined for Saudi Arabia.

According to director of media and advocacy, Femi Babafemi, NDLEA, in a statement on Sunday, Ebubechukwu admitted during interrogation that he had masterminded previous drug shipments and discarded his telephone SIM card after learning that the latest consignment had been intercepted.

The Agency said the suspect had previously been arrested in 2011 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, while allegedly attempting to travel to Austria after ingesting 900 grammes of cocaine and 130 grammes of heroin.

He was convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment but allegedly returned to trafficking after changing his identity.

A search of his Ejigbo residence reportedly yielded phone chargers similar to those used to conceal the Saudi-bound cocaine, with their internal components removed to create hidden compartments.

The arrest came amid a nationwide NDLEA crackdown which recorded major seizures across nine states.

At Lagos airport, operatives recovered 966,200 tablets of Tramadol 225mg, valued at over N1.1 billion, concealed among thrift trousers in a 21-carton consignment from Pakistan.

They also seized 57.8kg of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, hidden in cartons of disposable hand gloves from Singapore.

In Ondo state, NDLEA operatives intercepted a 20,000-litre fuel tanker after its driver allegedly fled. A search uncovered a concealed compartment containing 165 bags of cannabis weighing 2,145kg.

At Tin Can Port, Lagos, another 598.08kg of cannabis-infused cookies and gummies was intercepted in a 40-foot container.

Other seizures across Adamawa, Kaduna, Bauchi, Ekiti, Kogi, Taraba and Enugu included hundreds of thousands of opioid pills, cannabis, methamphetamine and controlled medicines.

NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd.), commended the officers and warned traffickers that changing identities or disguising criminal activities as legitimate businesses would not protect them from arrest.

He directed personnel to sustain intelligence-led operations against drug trafficking nationwide.