The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 65-year-old grandmother, Fatima Ilori, popularly known as Mama Kerosine, identified as a major illicit drug distributor in Ibadan, Oyo State, as the agency recorded multiple drug seizures and arrests across the country.
Mama Kerosine was apprehended on Monday, December 29, 2025, during an intelligence-led operation at the Onireke/Elekuro area of Ibadan. NDLEA operatives recovered 238.4 kilograms of skunk, a potent strain of cannabis, linked to the suspect. Another female suspect, Olusanya Abosede, 35, was also arrested in connection with the operation.
The arrest came amid a series of major interdictions by the agency, including the interception of consignments of Ketamine, Ecstasy and Tramadol pills concealed in sachets of coffee mix and parcels of books bound for Zambia and the United Kingdom. The seizures were made at a courier company in Lagos on December 24 and 29, 2025.
In a related development, NDLEA operatives arrested 22 Indian crew members of a merchant vessel, MV Aruna Hulya, after 31.5 kilograms of cocaine were discovered in Hatch 3 of the ship at the GDNL Terminal, Apapa Port, Lagos, on Friday, January 2, 2026. The vessel originated from the Marshall Islands. Those arrested include the ship’s master, Sharma Shashi Bhushan, and 21 other crew members.
In Borno State, the agency disrupted drug supply routes to insurgents with the arrest of two suspects and the seizure of large quantities of Tramadol. One suspect, Isa Mohammed, 26, was arrested along the Maiduguri–Gamboru Ngala road with 9,150 ampoules of Tramadol injection, while Musa Samaila, 30, was nabbed the same day at Biu market with 34,000 capsules of Tramadol.
Further seizures were recorded in Lagos, where not less than 400 kilograms of skunk and a van were recovered at the Mobolaji Johnson area on New Year’s Day, January 1, 2026. In Jigawa State, a suspect, Bilya Ibrahim, 39, was arrested at a motor park in Hadejia on December 30, 2025, while attempting to transport 260 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 140.8 kilograms from Taraba State to Yobe State.
In Kwara State, NDLEA officers recovered 238.5 kilograms of skunk from a suspect’s residence in the Asadam area of Ilorin on December 30, while another suspect, Abubakar Rabiu, 32, was arrested at Bode Saadu, Moro Local Government Area, with 32,000 pills of Tramadol and Diazepam on December 31, 2025.
Meanwhile, NDLEA Commands across the country sustained their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaigns, reaching schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities. Beneficiaries of the recent enlightenment programmes include students and staff of Madrasatu Fadimatul Zahra in Kankia, Katsina State; members of the Topo Youth Progressive Organisation in Badagry, Lagos; and residents of Madalla community in Niger State.
Commending the officers and men of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI), Apapa, Oyo, Borno, Lagos, Kwara and Jigawa Commands, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), urged them to intensify the agency’s drug control and enforcement efforts nationwide.
The NDLEA reaffirmed its commitment to combating drug trafficking and abuse, warning that no individual or network, regardless of age or status, would be spared in the ongoing crackdown.
