NDLEA Busts Drug Syndicate Packaging Cannabis as Christmas Cookies in Lagos

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have dismantled a drug syndicate that packages cannabis as imported Christmas cookies and snacks for distribution through a social media network, arresting two alleged masterminds.

The suspects, identified as Deji Adesanya and Olubiyi Majekodunmi, were apprehended on Saturday, November 22, 2025, following credible intelligence on their activities during a raid on their hideout in Lekki, Lagos.

According to a statement made available to ThelensNG on Sunday by the Director of Media and Advocacy of the anti-narcotic agency, Femi Babafemi, the syndicate operates and distributes the illicit drugs through a WhatsApp platform.

Babafemi disclosed that NDLEA officers stormed the duo’s apartment on Ojulari Street, Ikate area of Lekki, where they recovered about five kilograms of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, along with large quantities of colourful designer sachets printed with images and labels of cookies and snacks, used to package the drugs in retail quantities.

In a related operation in Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Thursday, November 27, arrested a 38-year-old alleged drug kingpin, Philip Ucheka, while taking delivery of 110 pouches of Canadian Loud weighing 55.6 kilograms at the Ladipo area of Mushin. Three delivery vehicles used in the operation were also seized from him.

Earlier the same day, NDLEA officers intercepted 100 grams of Loud concealed inside a teddy bear imported from Thailand at a courier company in Lagos. On Friday, November 28, another consignment of 548 capsules of tramadol hidden in bottles of Vitamin C and Magnesium and destined for the United Kingdom was recovered at a different logistics firm.

Also, at the Seme Special Area Command, NDLEA officers raided a warehouse at Ashipa, Seme border area of Badagry, Lagos, arresting Abubakar Shuaibu, 33, with 487 blocks of skunk weighing 243.5 kilograms.

In Oyo State, NDLEA officers on patrol along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Saturday, November 29, arrested a suspect, Wasiu Kareem, 55, with 8,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 590 bottles of codeine syrup, 1,500 pills of co-codamol, and 9,900 capsules of tramadol.

No fewer than seven suspects were arrested on Monday, November 24, when NDLEA operatives raided the Ipe forest in Akoko South East Local Government Area of Ondo State, recovering 3,077 kilograms of skunk, another strain of cannabis. Those arrested include John Ede, Ede Ndubuisi, Ikenna Abe, Eze Chukwuma, Maduabuchi Odo, Nnaji Chudubem, and Gorge Okowor.

Similarly, Anthony Sylvester, 49, was arrested along the Okene–Lokoja Highway in Kogi State on Wednesday, November 26, while conveying 649 kilograms of skunk in a truck.

In the North, Tsalha Alasan, 47, was arrested along the Zaria-Kano Road with 137 kilograms of skunk on Monday, November 24, while three suspects: Godspower Appeal, 50; Ernest Upong, 55; and Godday Chukwudi, 38, were nabbed on Wednesday, November 26, at Fanshanu village, Toro LGA of Bauchi State, with 322 blocks of skunk weighing 209 kilograms. A black Toyota Highlander jeep marked ABJ 533 EA, used to convey the drugs, was also recovered.

Meanwhile, a suspect, John Ekojo, 51, was arrested with 210.15 kilograms of skunk along the Abuja–Jos Highway on Saturday, November 29.

Along the Abuja–Kaduna Highway, a couple—Abdullahi Abubakar, 45, and Jamila Abdullahi, 35, were intercepted with 725 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition concealed in a sack of maize, while Awwal Sabiu, 20, was arrested at the Abuja–Kaduna tollgate with 400 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition on Friday, November 28.

Commending the officers and men of the DOGI, Lagos, Ondo, Oyo, Kogi, Kaduna, Kano, Seme and Bauchi Commands for the successful operations, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), urged them to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control efforts across the country.