The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted a Milan-bound businessman, Philip Tunde, with 4.80 kilogrammes of cocaine concealed in the soles of shoes and the railings of travel bags at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
Tunde, 38, was arrested at the joint screening point at Terminal 2 of the Lagos airport before boarding his Royal Air Maroc flight to Milan, Italy, on Sunday, September 27, 2026.
The Director of Media and Advocacy at NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement made available to ThelensNG on Sunday.
According to the statement, a thorough search by NDLEA operatives led to the recovery of 16 parcels of white powdery substance concealed in the soles of eight pairs of trainers and canvas shoes, as well as 195 wraps of the same substance hidden in the railings of four travelling bags.
Babafemi revealed that the substances tested positive for cocaine, with a combined weight of 4.80kg.
During the interview, the suspect claimed that he paid ₦16 million in cash for the cocaine concealed in the shoes, while the consignment in the bags was meant for delivery to his partner in Italy. He said that he raised the money from compensation paid to him for an injury he sustained while working at a plastic manufacturing company in Italy, where he lost the tips of two fingers.
In another operation, NDLEA operatives at the Apapa, Tin Can Island, and Onne ports intercepted consignments of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis, and codeine-based syrup worth over ₦5 billion, following months of intelligence gathering and tracking of the shipments from their ports of origin.
At the Apapa Port in Lagos, NDLEA officers, acting on intelligence, subjected two containers from Bangkok, Thailand, to 100 per cent examination alongside officers of the Nigeria Customs Service and other stakeholders.
A search of one of the containers on Saturday, September 3, yielded 161 parcels of Thai Loud weighing 124kg and worth ₦372 million. The drugs were concealed in two refrigerators and two cartons.
Two containers that had been placed on the NDLEA watch list based on processed intelligence were subjected to a joint examination with Customs and other security agencies at the Onne Port in Rivers State.
During the exercise, 40 packs of Loud weighing 22kg were found concealed in a travelling bag and three of five vehicles — a Toyota Matrix, Toyota Corolla, and Hyundai Elantra — shipped in one of the containers.
The second container contained 109,600 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup weighing 16,440kg. The container had reportedly left India for Saudi Arabia, where details about its origin were deleted to avoid detection.
The codeine and Loud consignments had a combined street value of ₦833.2 million.
NDLEA operatives also conducted a joint examination of a watch-listed container from Montreal, Canada, with Customs and other stakeholders at the Tin Can Island Port in Lagos on Tuesday, September 29.
Consequently, NDLEA operatives recovered 2,595 parcels of Canadian Loud weighing 1,297.5kg. The drugs were concealed in a Toyota Sienna and a Hyundai Elantra, alongside 24 blue drums and six jumbo bags in the container.
The consignment was valued at more than ₦3.8 billion in street value.
In Osun State, a total of 20,234kg of skunk was destroyed by NDLEA operatives on 8.0936 hectares of cannabis farm in Area 4, Ife South Local Government Area, on Wednesday, September 30.
Also, a suspect, Agbo Dennis, 41, was arrested in the West of Mines area of Jos North, Plateau State, following the seizure of 33 bags of skunk weighing 385kg on Tuesday, September 29.
In Lagos, NDLEA operatives raided an unoccupied compound at Divine Estate, Ago Palace, where they recovered 209,000 tablets of tramadol on Monday, September 28.
A 23-year-old suspect, Ekundayo Taiwo, was arrested on Wednesday, September 30, in a follow-up operation at Ladipo Spare Parts Market.
His arrest followed the seizure, the previous day, of 61 grams of Colorado, a synthetic strain of cannabis, and 24 grams of methamphetamine concealed in a bottle of energy drink and sent as a waybill package through a commercial bus driver along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
Similarly, NDLEA officers on patrol along the Okene-Lokoja Highway in Kogi State intercepted a Lagos-Abuja commuter bus on Wednesday, September 30, and found a waybill containing two sachets of methamphetamine weighing 1kg.
In a follow-up operation, the owner of the consignment, Michael Chukwuememka Uzoma, 29, was arrested in Utako, Abuja.
The residence of a suspect, Saturday Omimi, 35, was raided in Uyere community, Ovia North-East Local Government Area, of Edo State on Friday, October 2. NDLEA officers recovered 32.2kg of cannabis sativa from the premises.
On the same day, Osazuwa Iyabor Michael, 23, was arrested at Auchi Bypass, Benin City, with 59 grams of Loud, 12 grams of Colorado, 19 grams of tramadol, 16 grams of methamphetamine, 4 grams of Swinol, and 4 grams of Molly.
Six years after jumping bail, 47-year-old fugitive Idris Mohammed Kurra was arrested by NDLEA operatives on Tuesday, September 29.
Kurra was facing trial at the Federal High Court in Jos, Plateau State, in connection with the possession and dealing in 198kg of skunk.
He had, however, jumped bail granted to him by the court in December 2020 and had evaded arrest since then.
In the same vein, the Agency’s Commands and formations across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces, communities, and other locations during the past week.
The activities included WADA enlightenment lectures for students and staff of St. Paul’s Secondary School, Oji, Enugu; Olu-Odo Primary School, Igbogbo, Ikorodu, Lagos; Government Junior Secondary School, Tsamiya, Kano; Christ’s School, Ado Ekiti; and Government Science Secondary School, Lokoja, Kogi State, among others.
Commenting on the seizures and arrests, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd.), commended officers of the MMIA, Apapa, Tin Can, PHPC, Lagos, Edo, Bauchi, Plateau, and Osun Commands for their professionalism and intelligence-driven approach to the successful operations.
Marwa urged them and their colleagues across the country to sustain the onslaught against drug trafficking networks.
He also encouraged them to continue with the Agency’s current balanced approach to drug control efforts.
