The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a convicted cocaine trafficker who allegedly disguised himself as a herbal tea businessman, intercepted a 20,000-litre fuel tanker fitted with a concealed compartment for illicit drugs and seized more than two million opioid pills in coordinated operations across nine states.
The crackdown, which also yielded large consignments of cannabis, cocaine, methamphetamine, tramadol and other psychotropic substances, was carried out in Lagos, Adamawa, Ondo, Kaduna, Bauchi, Ekiti, Kogi, Taraba and Enugu states.
In Lagos, operatives of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) tracked down 34-year-old Dunu Bethel Ebubechukwu, alleged to be behind a 1.2kg cocaine shipment concealed in phone chargers and destined for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The consignment was intercepted at a courier company in Lagos on July 31, 2026. Following intelligence-led investigations, Ebubechukwu was arrested in a sting operation at Article Market, opposite Trade Fair Market, Ojo, Lagos, on Friday, September 4, while posing as a herbal tea businessman.
The suspect, according to the NDLEA, admitted masterminding some illicit drug shipments in the past and said he discarded his telephone SIM card after learning that his latest consignment had been intercepted.
The agency said Ebubechukwu was not new to drug trafficking, having been arrested in 2011 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, after ingesting 900 grammes of cocaine and 130 grammes of heroin in an attempt to travel to Austria.
He was prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to five years in prison under the name Dunu Chukwuyenre Enoch. He subsequently changed his name to Dunu Bethel Ebubechukwu and allegedly returned to the illicit drug trade.
A search of his residence at 6 Yemishola Street, Ejigbo, Lagos, on September 4 also led to the recovery of phone chargers similar to those used to conceal the intercepted cocaine. Their internal components had been removed to create space for the drugs.
At the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives recovered 966,200 tablets of Tramadol 225mg, valued at over N1.1 billion, concealed among thrift trousers in a 21-carton consignment from Pakistan.
The operatives also recovered 57.80kg of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis valued at more than N173 million in street value. The substance was hidden inside cartons of disposable hand gloves in a shipment from Singapore that had remained unclaimed for weeks before a joint examination involving NDLEA officers, Customs and other security agencies on Thursday, September 3.
Drug-laden tanker intercepted
In one of the major interceptions, NDLEA operatives in Ondo State chased down a 20,000-litre fuel tanker marked MKA 960 XC along the Akoko/Lokoja Expressway on Friday, September 4, after the driver allegedly refused to stop.
The driver later abandoned the tanker at a church premises in Ugbe Akoko and fled into the bush.
A search of the tanker uncovered a concealed compartment containing 165 bags of cannabis weighing 2,145kg, hidden alongside its legitimate fuel cargo reportedly destined for Jos, Plateau State.
The agency described the tanker as a vehicle that had allegedly been notorious for evading arrest in the past.
At the Tincan Port in Lagos, NDLEA operatives intercepted another 598.08kg, comprising 890 packets, of cannabis-laced cookies and gummies concealed in a 40-foot container on Wednesday, September 2.
The seizure was linked to three suspects already in custody—Yashim Dauji, Larry Ifeanyi and Joseph Moji—following the earlier seizure of 842.54kg of cannabis-laced cookies at the port.
In Adamawa State, NDLEA operatives on patrol along the Damilu and Jambutu axis in Jimeta, Yola North Local Government Area, recovered 864,000 opioid pills, particularly tramadol, from a residence linked to a fleeing suspect, Patrick KC Frank.
Frank allegedly rammed his Honda Civic into an NDLEA patrol vehicle before escaping.
In another operation in Michika, a major methamphetamine supplier from Lagos to the Mubi and Michika axis, 35-year-old Calistus Ebubechukwu, was arrested with 2kg of methamphetamine.
At Namtari checkpoint in Mubi on August 31, operatives also intercepted Attahiru Hussaini with tramadol and other opioids concealed in a soap-laden Ford Galaxy bus marked JJM-953XD.
In Lagos, NDLEA officers recovered 2,386.9kg of cannabis, 350 grammes of cocaine, more than 100kg of assorted grades of tramadol, 9.7 litres of codeine syrup and 4kg of rohypnol at Gbaji.
Two suspects, Damilare Francis and Emeh Emmanuel, were also arrested with 720kg of cannabis at Agbara.
In Kogi State, three suspects—Saidu Mustapha, 35; Zaharadeen Salisu, 29; and AbdulSalam Abdullahi, 25—were arrested with 636kg of cannabis concealed in chicken manure aboard a bus travelling from Owo, Ondo State, to Jos, Plateau State, along the Okene/Lokoja highway.
Taraba State recorded the arrest of 58-year-old Kelechi Unachukwu along Zaki-Biam Road in Wukari Local Government Area with more than 109kg of a cocktail of pharmaceutical drugs.
The drugs, conveyed in his Toyota Corolla marked KUJ-333BT from Onitsha, Anambra State, to Yola, Adamawa State, included tramadol, diazepam, pentazocine, phenobarbital, exol-5, nitrazepam, bromazepam and pregabalin.
In Kaduna State, NDLEA operatives intercepted a truck loaded with bags of cement along the Zaria-Kano Expressway and recovered 1,179kg of skunk.
In Bauchi State, 25-year-old Hamza Dahiru was arrested in a follow-up operation after the seizure of 322.5kg of cannabis at Deba town in Gombe State on September 1.
In Ekiti State, NDLEA operatives uncovered and destroyed a four-hectare cannabis farm in Efon-Alaaye forest, arresting Chuks Alex, 50, and Asafa Adekunle, 35. The operation also led to the recovery of 117kg of already-harvested skunk.
Similarly, 20-year-old Obinna David was arrested at Ugbema Junction, Enugu State, on Saturday, September 5, with 40,590 capsules of tramadol.
Beyond the arrests and seizures, NDLEA commands and formations across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities.
The activities included an enlightenment lecture for nursing mothers and nurses at Ibereko Primary Health Centre, Abeokuta North, Ogun State; an engagement with youths of Umouji/Okwo community at Olokoro, Umuahia South Local Government Area, Abia State; and a sensitisation programme for NLNG staff and concessionaires at the Saipem-Daewoo, NLNG terminal, Bonny Local Government Area, Rivers State.
Commending the officers and men involved in the operations, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd.), praised the DOGI, MMIA, Ondo, Tincan, Lagos, Adamawa, Kaduna, Bauchi, Ekiti, Kogi, Taraba and Enugu commands for their professionalism and intelligence-driven approach.
Marwa urged personnel across the country to sustain the current balanced approach to drug control, stressing that traffickers who believe they can reinvent themselves under new identities or legitimate business fronts would continue to be tracked down.
