The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested an Indian businessman, Gupta Ravi Kumar, alongside three Nigerians over the importation of 2,248,000 pills of tramadol valued at ₦3.9 billion.
According to NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, the shipment arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on September 8 aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Delhi, India. The 114 cartons, disguised as multivitamins, were intercepted by operatives who had placed them under surveillance.
On September 11, NDLEA officers arrested a clearing agent and two drivers while they attempted to move the drugs (tramadol) out of the airport in two trucks. A follow-up operation the next day led to the arrest of Kumar when he showed up to take delivery of the consignment.
At the airport’s Terminal 2 departure gate, NDLEA officers also intercepted a passenger, Onyeganochi Stanley Ifeanyi, who was heading to Doha on a Qatar Airways flight. A search of his bag uncovered 900 grams of cannabis skunk hidden in crayfish. His confession led to the arrest of a Nigerian based in Qatar, Ohadiegwu Anthony Uchenna, who was later found with an additional 200 grams of the same drug at his hotel in Ajao Estate.
At Tincan Port, Lagos, NDLEA officers discovered 161 parcels of Canadian Loud weighing 81.7kg and 1.2kg of hashish oil concealed in a 40-foot container from Montreal, Canada. The seizure resulted in the arrest of two men, John Ochigbo and Okeke Kingsley. Another 65kg of Canadian Loud was later tracked to the Third Mainland Bridge, where operatives intercepted the consignment and arrested the driver, Abubakar Ibrahim.
The agency also seized two courier parcels in Lagos: six grams of methamphetamine hidden in a picture frame bound for Gabon, and 1.1kg of Loud concealed in video players headed for the UAE.
In a raid in Ikorodu, operatives uncovered a factory producing “skuchies,” a mixture of cannabis and blackcurrant drink. They recovered 6,029 bottles and 4,232kg of cannabis, arresting factory manager Joy Awosika. Another suspect, Akeem Oriola, was arrested the same day in Mushin with 26kg of skunk.
Across several states, NDLEA made further arrests and seizures: cocaine, cannabis, methamphetamine, tramadol, and other illicit substances were recovered in Abuja, Oyo, Kano, Anambra, Yobe, Ogun, and Edo. Notably, 16,966.6kg of cannabis was destroyed on a 6.8-hectare plantation in Edo State, with four suspects arrested.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), praised officers nationwide for their efforts and urged them to sustain the agency’s balanced strategy of law enforcement and public sensitisation through its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign.
