NDLEA Uncovers N3.8 billion Drug Empire

….Arrests Businessman with Cocaine bound for India

…48-year-old sells business, assets for N23m cocaine deal — Targets N100m profit

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has uncovered a sprawling drug trafficking network with seizures worth more than N3.6 billion in Lagos alone, while arresting a 48-year-old businessman who allegedly sold off his business and personal assets to finance a cocaine consignment destined for India.

The dramatic arrest of Nwankwo Onyebuchi, a Lagos-based marble dealer, highlights the increasingly sophisticated and high-value nature of Nigeria’s illicit drug trade, as the NDLEA simultaneously dismantled major drug operations across Lagos, Kano, Kwara, Oyo, Edo, Plateau and Delta states.

Onyebuchi was arrested at the departure hall of Terminal II of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to New Delhi, India.

According to a statement by spokesman of NDLEA, Femi Babafemi on Sunday, the operatives searching Onyebuchi’s luggage discovered 1.550 kilogrammes of cocaine concealed inside the side walls and railings of the bag.

The suspect’s account of how he financed the journey provided a startling insight into the desperation and enormous profits driving international drug trafficking.

The businessman allegedly told investigators that he had liquidated his marble business and other assets to raise N23 million to purchase the cocaine.

His plan, according to the NDLEA, was to sell the consignment in India for as much as N100 million.

The arrest effectively ended what the agency described as his attempt to transform himself from a legitimate businessman into an international drug trafficker.

While the cocaine arrest unfolded at the airport, NDLEA operatives were also dismantling a massive drug distribution operation in Lagos.

At a warehouse hidden inside a residential compound at 20 Hakeem Dosumu Street, Ago Palace area of Okota, operatives discovered 3,776 cartons containing 377,600 bottles of codeine-based syrup.

The seizure, made between August 7 and 8, was valued at more than N2.6 billion.

In a separate operation in Ipaja, NDLEA operatives raided the residence of suspected drug kingpin Shoremi Kayode, 55, at Ogundare Street, Ipaja Estate.

They recovered 324 kilogrammes of Colorado, a synthetic strain of cannabis, valued at N972 million, alongside a Mercedes-Benz and a Toyota Corolla.

Together, the two Lagos seizures were worth approximately N3.57 billion, putting the state’s latest haul at the centre of the nationwide crackdown.

The crackdown extended beyond cocaine and cannabis to the growing trafficking of pharmaceutical opioids.

Along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in Oyo State, NDLEA operatives arrested 70-year-old Abdulfatai Oyelaran and Abdulrauf Ajadi, 50, after intercepting their Toyota Sienna.

The vehicle contained 52,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection and 6,000 ampoules of tramadol injection.

The arrest of the septuagenarian underscored the wide age range of suspects being encountered in the agency’s ongoing opioid-trafficking operations.

In Kano, six suspects were arrested during a patrol along the Zaria-Kano Road. They were identified as Okodili Ibeabuchi, 60; Onyeka Vincent, 47; Nwanko Wisdom, 36; Success Chigozie, 30; Emmanuel Jude, 27; and Chinedu Peter, 39.

NDLEA said the suspects were found with 728,958 pills of tramadol, rohypnol and other opioids, as well as 360 grammes of cocaine, 99.8 grammes of methamphetamine, 50 bottles of codeine syrup and 2.7 kilogrammes of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis.

Another Kano operation at Zawaciki Gida Dubu, Kumbotso Local Government Area, resulted in the seizure of 171 blocks of skunk weighing 106.8 kilogrammes and the arrest of Mustapha Iliya, 30, and Abdulwahab Abdulrashid, 24.

In Plateau State, NDLEA operatives intercepted a Toyota Corolla along the Riyom-Jos Road and recovered 239,490 capsules of Tramaforce, a brand of tramadol, with a suspect, Kasum Sheriff arrested.

Meanwhile, along the Onitsha-Asaba Expressway, operatives arrested Osaro Ikpoba, 43, and Samuel Godbless, 18, with another massive consignment comprising 124,100 tramadol pills, 786 bottles of codeine syrup, 2,598 tablets of Rohypnol, 4,800 tablets of diazepam, 470 ampoules of pentazocine and 200 ampoules of tramadol.

In Edo State, the NDLEA destroyed 4,628.9775 kilogrammes of skunk cultivated on two cannabis farms covering 1.851591 hectares in the Ugboku/Igbanke forest in Orhionmwon Local Government Area.

Babafemi said a suspect, Agholor Elebojie, 40, was arrested during the operation.

At Oluku in Benin City, another suspect, Kingsley Anigala, 28, was arrested during a raid on drug joints with 25.857 kilogrammes of Loud and 93 grammes of methamphetamine.

In Delta State, Emeka Tony, 50, was arrested along the Kwale-Ozoro Expressway with 1,244 cartridges and N8 million cash.

The NDLEA also continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy campaign during the week, conducting sensitisation programmes in schools and communities.

Meanwhile, the NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd.), commended the officers involved in the operations and praised commands across the country for sustaining the agency’s offensive against illicit drugs.

Marwa said the agency would continue to pursue a balance between drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction, while commending personnel in Lagos, Kano, Kwara, Edo, Plateau, Oyo and Delta for their efforts.