The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted six cocaine consignments bound for the United Kingdom and dismantled the cartel behind them in coordinated raids across Lagos and other states over a three-week period.
The operation resulted in the arrest of the syndicate’s mastermind, Alhaji Hammed Taofeek Ode, an estate developer and businessman, along with five others. Ode, who returned to Nigeria in 2024 after spending more than 27 years in various European countries, admitted to owning one of the intercepted shipments valued at over ₦150 million.
NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi explained that the operation began on September 16, 2025, when officers at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, intercepted 174 parcels of cocaine weighing 13.40kg hidden in cocoa butter cream containers. A cargo handler was arrested, which led investigators to Ode.
Additional seizures between September 26 and October 2 uncovered cocaine concealed in hair cream, stainless cups, and crayfish packs, with a combined weight of 7.1kg. Among those apprehended were Smith David Korede, a furniture maker tied to several consignments, and suspects Ogunbiyi Oluseye Taiwo and Popoola Francis Olumuyiwa.
In a separate bust, NDLEA stopped an attempt to import 6.3kg of Loud, a high-grade cannabis strain, from Thailand into Lagos, disguised in bedsheets and hibiscus flowers. Nationwide raids also uncovered large volumes of tramadol, pregabalin, codeine syrup, synthetic cannabis (Colorado), and skunk.
Highlights include:
Kano: A joint NDLEA-Customs raid seized 290,450 tramadol and pregabalin pills from suspect Sa’adu Ali.
Lagos: Arrest of notorious dealer “SammyBless” with 550g of Colorado in Lekki; 109kg of skunk and 20 bottles of codeine taken in Mushin.
Kwara: 27,700 tramadol tablets confiscated from suspect Salisu Abubakar.
Kaduna: More than 532kg of skunk seized; arrests made in Kudandan and along the Kaduna–Zaria highway.
Ogun: 112kg of skunk and tramadol recovered in Isheri.
Osun: A 14,000kg skunk farm destroyed in Owena/Ijesha forest reserve.
Edo: 10,897.35kg skunk destroyed on four farms; 244.5kg intercepted in Igbanke.
Kogi/Abuja: Interceptions of Loud and Colorado resulted in arrests in Okene, Gwagwalada, and Abaji.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig-Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (Rtd), praised operatives nationwide for their “tenacity, professionalism, and balanced approach,” pledging continuous crackdown on drug traffickers.
“These successful operations should serve as a warning that NDLEA will not relent until the menace of substance abuse and illicit trafficking is eliminated,” Marwa declared.
The agency also scaled up its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign, organizing sensitization drives in schools, markets, religious centers, and offices across states such as Adamawa, Katsina, Niger, Lagos, and Imo.
