The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted various quantities of illicit substances, including Ketamine, Ecstasy and Tramadol pills, concealed in sachets of coffee mix and a book parcel heading to Zambia and the United Kingdom.
The seizures made at a courier company in Lagos on December 24 and 29, 2025 came as the agency had taken into custody 22 Indian crew members of a merchant vessel, MV Aruna Hulya, in which 31.5 kilograms of cocaine were seized by operatives at the GDNL terminal, Apapa port, Lagos on Friday, January 2, 2026.
Those detained in connection with the discovery of the 31.5kg cocaine in hatch 3 of the ship, which originated from the Marshall Islands, include the Master of the Vessel, Sharma Shashi Bhushan and 21 other crew members.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives in Oyo State, on Monday, December 29, 2025, arrested a wanted female drug kingpin who is a major illicit drug distributor in Ibadan, the State capital.
A statement by the NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday said the 65-year-old grandma, Fatima Ilori, popularly known as Mama Kerosine, was nabbed in an intelligence-led operation following the seizure of 238.4kg skunk, a strain of cannabis, linked to her. She was arrested along with another female suspect, Olusanya Abosede, at the Onireke/Elekuro area of Ibadan.
In Borno state, the supply chain of illicit drugs to insurgents was further disrupted with the arrest of two suppliers and the seizure of large consignments of illicit substances.
While one of the suspects, Isa Mohammed, was arrested by NDLEA operatives following the interception of 9,150 ampoules of Tramadol Injection along Maiduguri-Gamboru Ngala road on 2nd January 2026, the other suspect, Musa Samaila, was nabbed with 34,000 capsules of Tramadol at Biu market same day.
Not less than 400kg of skunk was recovered along with a van at Mobolaji Johnson area of Lagos on New Year’s day, while a suspect, Bilya Ibrahim, was arrested at a motor park in Hadejia town, Jigawa State, on 30th December 2025, while trying to transport 260 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 140.8kg, which he procured from Taraba State to Nguru, Yobe State.
In Kwara state, NDLEA officers on 30th December recovered 238.50kg skunk from the home of a suspect at Asadam area of Ilorin, while a total of 32,000 pills of tramadol and diazepam were seized from another suspect, Abubakar Rabiu, at Bode Saadu, Morro LGA, on New Year’s eve.
In like manner, Commands and formations of the Agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities to schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities, among others, in the past week.
While commending the officers and men of DOGI, Apapa, Oyo, Borno, Lagos, Kwara and Jigawa Commands for the arrests and seizures, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig-Gen. Mohamed Marwa (rtd) enjoined them and their colleagues across the country to intensify the ongoing drug control efforts of the agency.
