The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency detained Nwankwo Onyebuchi, a 48-year-old businessman, who had 1.550 kg of cocaine hidden in the walls and railings of his luggage, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
This was revealed in a statement released on Sunday by Femi Babafemi, the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy.
Onyebuchi, a marble dealer in Lagos, was detained at the airport’s Terminal II departure hall while trying to board a Qatar Airways flight to New Delhi, India, according to Babafemi.
He claims that 1.550 kg of cocaine was found factory-fitted into the suspect’s check-in bag’s walls and railings.
The suspect allegedly admitted that he had raised N23 million to buy the shipment, which he anticipated selling for up to N100 million in India, by selling his marble company and other assets.
“Nwankwo said he had sold off his marble business and every asset he owned to raise the N23m he paid for the consignment, with the expectation of selling it in India for as much as N100m,” Babafemi stated in an open admission that exposes the desperation that drives the drug trade.
He further stated that the suspect was still being held pending charges.
“In another operation, the NDLEA operatives acting on credible intelligence raided a warehouse within a residential compound at 20 Hakeem Dosumu Street, Ago Palace area of Okota, Lagos, where a massive stockpile of codeine-based syrup was discovered,” the statement continued.
Between Friday, August 7, and Saturday, August 8, 2026, 3,776 cartons totaling 377,600 bottles of the controlled substance—valued at more than N2.6 billion—were found.
On Wednesday, August 14, NDLEA agents raided the home of 55-year-old kingpin Shoremi Kayode at 37 Ogundare Street, Ipaja Estate, Ipaja area of Lagos, in yet another intelligence-led operation. They found 324 kilograms of Colorado, a synthetic cannabis strain valued at N972,000,000 on the black market. A Mercedes-Benz and a Toyota Corolla were also found on the suspect.
Additionally, the NDLEA recorded drug seizures and arrests in the states of Kwara, Oyo, Delta, Plateau, Kano, and Edo.
On August 13, Abubakar Adamu, 50, and Bilyaminu Nuhu, 30, were taken into custody in the Kam Wire neighborhood of Ilorin, Kwara State, together with 55.96 kg of skunk in a truck with the license plate DKA 350 XL.
On August 12, Abdulfatai Oyelaran, 70, and Abdulrauf Ajadi, 50, were taken into custody on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in Oyo State.
According to the agency, their Toyota Sienna with the license plate FFA-115KA had 52,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection and 6,000 ampoules of tramadol injection.
On August 13, two suspects, Osaro Ikpoba, 43, and Samuel Godbless, 18, were apprehended by NDLEA agents in Delta State along the Onitsha-Asaba Expressway.
124,100 tramadol pills, 786 bottles of codeine syrup, 2,598 rohypnol tablets, 4,800 diazepam tablets, 470 pentazocine injection ampoules, and 200 tramadol injection ampoules were found, according to the agency.
On August 12, Emeka Tony, a 50-year-old suspect, was apprehended near the Kwale-Ozoro Expressway with 1,244 cartridges and N8 million.
Along the Riyom-Jos Road in Plateau State, NDLEA agents stopped a Toyota Corolla with registration number MKD 341 EA and found 239,490 capsules of the tramadol brand Tramaforce. Kasum Sherif, a suspect, was taken into custody.
On August 10, six individuals were taken into custody in Kano State near the Zaria-Kano Road. Okodili Ibeabuchi, 60; Onyeka Vincent, 47; Nwanko Wisdom, 36; Success Chigozie, 30; Emmanuel Jude, 27; and Chinedu Peter, 39, were named as the suspects.
According to the authorities, 2.7 kg of Loud, a synthetic cannabis strain, 360g of cocaine, 99.8g of methamphetamine, 50 bottles of codeine syrup, and 728,958 tablets of tramadol, rohypnol, and other opioids were found.
On August 14, NDLEA agents stormed Zawaciki Gida Dubu in Kumbotso Local Government Area, Kano, and found 171 blocks of skunk totaling 106.8 kg.
In relation to the seizure, two suspects were taken into custody: Abdulwahab Abdulrashid, 24, and Mustapha Iliya, 30.
According to the agency, two cannabis crops totaling 1.851591 hectares at Ugboku/Igbanke forest in Orhionmwon Local Government Area in Edo State destroyed 4,628.9775 kg of skunk.
During the August 12 raid, 40-year-old Agholor Elebojie was taken into custody on one of the properties.
During a search on drug joints in Benin City’s Oluku neighborhood on August 14, another suspect, Kingsley Anigala, 28, was taken into custody together with 25.857 kg of Loud and 93g of methamphetamine.
Sensitization lectures for students and staff at Madarasatu Sheik Muhammad Rabi’u Arabic School in Kano and Olomu Junior Secondary School in Ajah, Lagos State, were among the War Against Drug Abuse social advocacy efforts that the NDLEA stated continued throughout the nation over the week.
Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, praised the officers and staff of the MMIA, Lagos, Kano, Kwara, Edo, Plateau, Oyo, and Delta commands for the seizures and arrests.
Additionally, he commended staff members from all of the agency’s commands for upholding what he called a balance between measures to reduce drug supply and demand.
