NDLEA intercepts 1.63 million tramadol pills bound for Kano, arrests 80-year-old suspect

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted 1.63 million pills of tramadol concealed in two articulated trucks heading to Kano from Lagos, dealing another major blow to a transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating along the Togo, Benin Republic and Nigeria corridor.

According to Director of Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, in a statement made to Blueprint.ng on Sunday, the seizures were made possible following intelligence-driven operations that uncovered 853,000 pills of tramadol (250mg) hidden in a specially fabricated compartment beneath the cargo floor of a trailer intercepted along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway on July 2, 2026, where the truck’s 22-year-old driver, Jabir Kabiru, was arrested.

Two days later, operatives tracked a second trailer on the same route and recovered 777,000 additional pills concealed in a similar hidden compartment.

The driver, Muhammed Nuhu, 22, was also arrested.

NDLEA said investigations revealed that the latest consignments, together with an earlier seizure of 558,900 tramadol pills on June 21, 2026 belonged to the same international drug trafficking network smuggling the psychoactive substance into Nigeria through neighbouring countries.

In another operation, operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, intercepted 4.7 kilograms of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, concealed in cartons marked “Odugwu” and shipped from Canada on British Airways and Ethiopian Airlines flights.

The investigation led to the arrest of cargo agents Ali Rotimi Samson and Orimolade Oluwagbenga, before operatives apprehended Edeh Onyeamachi Stanislus, who attempted to collect the consignments from a logistics company.

Further investigations led to the arrest of 44-year-old businesswoman, Chioma Nneka Mokeme, in Surulere, Lagos, with support from the Nigeria Police.

She reportedly admitted that a Canada-based associate introduced her to the illicit business.

In Rivers State, NDLEA operatives arrested 80-year-old Chika Ugwoji in Ahoada after recovering 800 grams of skunk from him.

In Edo state, a husband and wife, Christian Chukwuka, 32, and Nwanneka Christian, 33, were arrested during a raid on their warehouse along Sapele Road, Benin City, where officers recovered 22 bags of cannabis weighing 219.5kg and 192.67kg of Canadian Loud.

Operatives also tracked and arrested Hajara Abdullahi, a 38-year-old Chadian woman, and her Nigerian accomplice, Abdulkarim Jidda, 44, in Lagos after linking them to the seizure of 50,000 tramadol pills intercepted in Kogi state.

Beyond enforcement operations, the agency sustained its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign with sensitisation programmes in schools across Katsina, Enugu, Lagos, Rivers, Ekiti and Kano states.

Commending officers involved in the successful operations, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) praised the personnel of the MMIA, Lagos, Rivers, Edo and Kogi Commands for their professionalism, urging them to remain vigilant as the agency intensifies efforts to dismantle drug trafficking networks nationwide.