The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has recorded a major breakthrough in the fight against drug trafficking with the interception of illicit drugs worth over N6.5 billion at major seaports in Lagos and Rivers States, and the arrest of a transnational drug syndicate involving British and Nigerian nationals.
No fewer than six million pills of opioids, including Tamol 225mg, Tapentadol 225mg, and Carisoprodol 225mg, along with 332,000 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup, were seized by NDLEA operatives at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne, and the Apapa Seaport in Lagos.
The seizures, with a combined street value of N6,524,000,000, followed sustained intelligence gathering and tracking of new trafficking routes by drug cartels, prompting the watch-listing and 100 percent examination of targeted containers. The operation, carried out jointly with the Nigeria Customs and other security agencies, led to the discovery of the drugs concealed in containers on May 19 and 20 at Onne Port, and on May 22 at Apapa.
In a related operation, NDLEA operatives arrested four members of a transnational syndicate attempting to smuggle 92 bags of Loud—a potent strain of cannabis—into Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos. The drugs, weighing 51.10kg, were recovered on May 15.
The suspects include two British nationals—Mhizha Jordan Alexander Tatendra and Ayedipe Andrew Adejuwon (a Nigerian-British dual citizen)—as well as Nigerians Shonowo Oluwaseun Imole and Ofuoma Omokaro Ayobami. Tatendra, who arrived from Doha via Qatar Airways, was trailed by NDLEA operatives and arrested at the airport car park, where Adejuwon and the others were waiting in an SUV to receive the consignment.
Following the arrest, a follow-up raid on their apartment in Lekki uncovered further items, including N3.8 million in cash, 17,200 South African Rand, an Apple laptop, an iPhone 14 Pro Max, and four nitrous oxide (laughing gas) canisters.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives in Cross River and Edo States destroyed over 76 tonnes of cannabis in large-scale farm raids. At Esuk-Odot village in Odukpani LGA, Cross River, 30 hectares of cannabis farmland were destroyed and 200kg recovered on May 22. In Edo, 1,957.5kg of skunk was destroyed in Ohosu Forest and Okhuse community between May 23 and
