NDLEA Busts Major Drug Smuggling Rings, Seizes Cocaine, Cannabis, and Opioids Nationwide

NDLEA Busts Major Drug Smuggling Rings, Seizes Cocaine, Cannabis, and Opioids Nationwide

A Vietnam-bound businessman, Paul Mbadugha, was apprehended by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, after ingesting 88 wraps of cocaine. The 54-year-old suspect was intercepted last Monday at the boarding gate during the clearance for his Qatar Airways flight to Hanoi, Vietnam, via Doha.

Femi Babafemi, NDLEA’s spokesperson, disclosed in a Sunday statement that Mbadugha excreted 1.71 kilograms of cocaine over four days under observation. Mbadugha, who identified himself as a Lagos-based businessman, claimed he was promised $2,000 to deliver the drugs in Vietnam.

In a separate operation, NDLEA officers at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, intercepted 800 grams of a synthetic strain of cannabis, known as Loud, concealed in noodles destined for Congo. A follow-up operation led to the arrest of the sender, Nnamani Sunday, a GSM handset dealer in Alaba International Market.

In another significant bust, NDLEA operatives at Lagos Airport seized 65.8 kilograms of Loud hidden in four out of six suitcases from a passenger arriving from Canada. The suspect, Desalu Temitope, confessed that he and an accomplice were promised $10,000 for delivering the drugs.

Meanwhile, in Port Harcourt, NDLEA operatives, in collaboration with the Nigeria Customs Service, seized 892,400 bottles of codeine-based syrup during a joint examination at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne. The bottles, valued at over N6 billion, were packed in 5,337 cartons weighing 133,860 kilograms and shipped from India.

Across other states, NDLEA operations continued to yield results. In Ekiti State, 21,800 kilograms of cannabis were destroyed on a 20-hectare farm in Ise forest reserve. In Enugu, a Sienna bus carrying 200.2 kilograms of cannabis was intercepted, and the driver arrested. Additional arrests for tramadol and cannabis trafficking were made in Kano, Ogun, and Niger states.

NDLEA’s nationwide War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign also saw intensified sensitization efforts in schools, workplaces, and communities.

Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd), NDLEA Chairman, commended the agency’s officers for their dedication to the ongoing crackdown on drug trafficking and their commitment to public awareness campaigns across the country.