LAGOS, Nigeria – Operatives from Nigeria‘s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency intercepted 12 large parcels of cocaine concealed in food flasks bound for the United Kingdom via a Virgin Atlantic Airline flight at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on Thursday, April 9, 2026.
The agency disclosed the interceptions in a statement on Sunday, April 19, 2026. Okay News reports that the agency said, “The cocaine consignment with a gross weight of 2.80 kilograms was intercepted on Thursday, 9th April 2026, by operatives attached to the export shed of the Lagos airport, while two cargo agents involved in the export bid: Ama Obinna Ufeim, 33, and Ogabi Monday Akorede, 39, were swiftly arrested.”
Further investigation identified 52-year-old freight agent Agoro Tajudeen Moninuola as the sender of the consignment, resulting in his arrest. In a separate operation on Wednesday, April 8, 2026, officers seized 2.90 kilograms of cannabis arriving from the United States of America on a Delta Airlines flight. Cargo clearing agents Animashaun Moshood Adetunji and Mercy Gabriel Oluwasegun were arrested, followed by the capture of consignee Saheed Adeshina Adegoke, 29, in Ogba on Monday, April 13, 2026.
Officers in Kaduna intercepted a cement trailer near Gwargwaje, Zaria, bound for Hadeja in Jigawa State on Monday, April 13, 2026. A search of the vehicle recovered 760 blocks and 33 jumbo bags of cannabis weighing 847 kilograms, leading to the arrest of driver Umar Garba Haruna, 33. In Cross River State, a joint raid with soldiers on Thursday, April 16, 2026, in the Uwet community of Akamkpa Local Government Area resulted in the arrest of Alice Sunday Udoh, 53, after operatives destroyed 15,000 kilograms of cannabis across six hectares of farmland and recovered 119 kilograms of the substance.
Raids took place at the Saboro camp in Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo State on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, where 2,281.43 kilograms of cannabis were destroyed. Three suspects, Nweke Smart, 27, Christopher Egbe, 62, and Monday Ayan, 45, were arrested. In Delta State, Sunday Odili, 49, and Ijenebe Joshua, 39, were detained with 87.838 kilograms of cannabis and seeds at the Powerline area of Okwo on Friday, April 17, 2026.
In Lagos, Chinedu Ogbekene and Zindozin Aloukou Bienvenu were arrested on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, at Mile 2 along the Lagos-Badagry expressway while transporting 11,900 capsules of tramadol and 400 ampoules of phenobarbital injection bound for Ghana. On the same day, operatives recovered 95.8 kilograms of cannabis from a two-storey building in Petti, Lagos Island. The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended the commands for the seizures.
The agency also conducted drug supply reduction and sensitization activities at educational and religious institutions over the past week. These events included lectures at Alfurgan Islamic School in Paiko, Niger State, and Edgerly Memorial Girls Secondary School in Calabar.
