Indian Businessman, Three Nigerians Arrested Over N3.9bn Tramadol Bust at Lagos Airport

NDLEA Uncovers Skuchies Factory in Ikorodu, Makes Major Seizures Nationwide

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested an Indian national, Gupta Ravi Kumar, along with three Nigerian collaborators — Ogunlana Noah Olanrewaju, Olushola Idrees Kayode, and Bakare Korede Muheeb — over the importation of a massive consignment of tramadol valued at N3.99 billion.

The drugs, totaling 2,248,000 pills of tramadol 200mg/225mg, were smuggled from Delhi, India, disguised as multivitamins in 114 cartons. They arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja Lagos, via an Ethiopian Airlines flight on Monday, 8th September 2025.

Following days of surveillance, NDLEA officers apprehended a clearing agent and two truck drivers attempting to move the consignment on Thursday, 11th September. A follow-up operation the next day led to the arrest of Gupta Kumar while he attempted to collect the shipment.

OTHER SIGNIFICANT BUSTS NATIONWIDE

Airport Seizures: Cannabis Concealed in Crayfish At MMIA’s Terminal 2, NDLEA operatives intercepted Onyeganochi Stanley Ifeanyi, a first-time traveler heading to Doha, with 900g of skunk hidden in crayfish. His confession led to the arrest of Ohadiegwu Anthony Uchenna, who was found with another 200g of the same substance in a hotel room at Ajao Estate.

Tincan Port: Drugs Hidden in Vehicle Containers At Tincan Port, a container of vehicle spare parts from Montreal, Canada, was found to contain 161 parcels of Canadian Loud (81.7kg) and 1.2kg of hashish oil on Tuesday, 9th September. Suspects John Ochigbo (53) and Okeke Kingsley (26) were arrested.
Another 65kg shipment of Loud was tracked and intercepted on the Third Mainland Bridge inside a Toyota Sienna. Abubakar Ibrahim (42) was arrested.

Courier Packages: Meth and Loud Hidden in Art and Electronics NDLEA officers uncovered two separate drug consignments from courier firms in Lagos. On Monday, 8th September, 6g of methamphetamine was discovered concealed inside a picture frame destined for Gabon. On Thursday, 11th September, 1.1kg of Loud hidden in video decoders was seized en route to the UAE.

Ikorodu: Skuchies Factory Busted A factory producing “skuchies” — a psychoactive mix of cannabis and black currant drink — was raided in the Ibeshe area of Ikorodu, Lagos. The operation yielded 6,029 bottles of the substance and 4,232kg of cannabis. The factory manager, Joy Awosika, and another suspect, Akeem Oriola, were arrested.

FCT Abuja: Dispatch Rider Caught with Cocaine and Loud A dispatch rider, Godsplan Vincent (29), was arrested during a stop-and-search in Utako with 50.7g of cocaine and 66g of Loud.

Oyo State: Female Trio Nabbed with 17kg of Skunk Three women — Faidat Azeez (25), Alanu Fatimoh (40), and Mojeed Taiwo (25) — were arrested in Oyo Town after 17kg of skunk was found in their possession.

Kano: Psychoactive Substances Recovered

• Musa Shuaibu (38) was caught with 100,000 tramadol pills at Gadar Tamburawa on 8th September.
• Abubakar Adamu (35) was arrested with 196 litres of Akuskura in Na’ibawa.
• Basiru Umar (18) was found with 34.1kg of skunk, 493 tubes of rubber solution, and 25 litres of ‘suck and die’ in Kumbotso LGA.

Anambra: Couple Found with 19kg of Illicit Drugs Nzube Onyedika (41) and his wife Ebele Onyedika (42) were arrested in Obosi with 13.9kg of methamphetamine and 5.3kg of skunk. Another suspect, Nnamchi Tochukwu (36), was found with meth, tramadol, swinol, heroin, and skunk.

Yobe: Cannabis Recovered in Potiskum Mohammed Auwal was arrested with 22.1kg of cannabis sativa in Gadan Talakawa, Potiskum.

Ogun: Cross-Border Traffickers Apprehended In a joint operation with police and local vigilantes in Imeko, three suspects — Kunyadi Kunle Ogbungbun (24), Olalekan Adewale (20), and Sanya Joshua (22) — were caught with 394kg of skunk. Three motorcycles used for transporting the drugs were also seized.

Edo: Major Cannabis Farm Destroyed NDLEA operatives destroyed 16,966.633kg of skunk on a 6.7-hectare cannabis farm in Ugbogyi forest, Ovia South West LGA. Additionally, 112 bags of processed cannabis (weighing 1,176kg) were recovered. Four suspects — Ebenezer Ewang, Oshore John, Emmanuel Monday, and David Sunday — were arrested.

Ongoing WADA Campaigns

NDLEA’s War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign continued across the country with sensitization programs held at:

• Onitsha South Motors Park, Enugu North
• Otu Central Mosque, Oyo
• Salamah International School, Katsina
• Wawa Central Mosque, Niger
• Advocacy visit to the Osile Oke-Ona Egba, Oba Adedapo Adewale Tejuosho in Ogun State

Commendation and Call to Action

NDLEA Chairman/CEO, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended officers across the MMIA, Tincan, Lagos, Edo, Kano, FCT, Anambra, Yobe, and Ogun Commands for their resilience. He urged them to maintain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control, combining enforcement with advocacy and education.