NDLEA Seizes Illicit Drugs Worth ₦3.9bn Disguised as Multi-Vitamins, Arrests Three Suspects
Chukwu Obinna 
ABUJA, Nigeria – The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has seized a record consignment of 2.2 million tramadol pills worth ₦3.9 billion at Lagos’ Murtala Muhammed International Airport, arresting an Indian businessman and three Nigerian accomplices.
According to the agency in a statement on Sunday signed by its spokesman, Mr. Femi Babafemi, the shipment, disguised as multi-vitamins, arrived from Delhi on 8 September and was intercepted as clearing agents attempted to move it in two trucks.
NDLEA operatives later arrested the suspect, identified as Gupta Ravi Kumar, while he tried to take delivery.
The operation formed part of an intensified crackdown on cross-border drug trafficking.
At the airport’s Terminal 2, passenger Onyeganochi Stanley Ifeanyi was stopped aboard a Qatar Airways flight for attempting to smuggle cannabis hidden in dried crayfish.
His alleged sponsor, Ohadiegwu Anthony Uchenna, was also arrested.
In separate operations, NDLEA officers at Tin Can Port uncovered 81kg of Canadian Loud and hashish oil from Montreal, while 65kg of cannabis was seized on Lagos’ Third Mainland Bridge.
Further raids in Ikorodu dismantled a factory producing “skuchies,” a cannabis-laced drink, yielding 6,000 bottles and 4.2 tonnes of cannabis.
In Anambra, a couple was arrested with methamphetamine and skunk, while operatives in Kano and Edo destroyed cannabis farms and seized large consignments.
NDLEA Chairman, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd.) commended the officers’ commitment, stressing that Nigeria would maintain a “balanced approach” in addressing both trafficking and substance abuse.
About the Author
Mirian Gom 
Hussaini Ibrahim 
