The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Ogun State Command, has seized 1.6 tonnes of cannabis sativa in Mowe, Obafemi Owode Local Government Area, as part of its intensified crackdown on drug trafficking.
The Command’s Public Relations Officer, Mr Haris Musa, said NDLEA operatives made the seizure during a carefully coordinated, intelligence-driven operation at a residential compound in Mowe.
Mr Musa disclosed that officers arrested three suspects at the scene, including a Benedict Joseph Thaddeus, while they attempted to load the illicit drug consignment into a Toyota Sienna bus and a Hummer bus.
According to him, operatives recovered a total of 115 bags of cannabis sativa, weighing about 1,600 kilogrammes, dealing a major blow to drug trafficking networks operating in the state.
The NDLEA spokesperson said the Ogun State Command had reaffirmed its commitment to sustaining the offensive against drug syndicates, in line with its statutory mandate to curb the circulation of illicit drugs.
He added that the ongoing operations were aimed at protecting public health and security, in line with the agency’s strategic vision and directives.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a wanted drug baron, Mr. Frank Chijioke Ibemesi, alias Chisco Bee, after weeks of intelligence gathering and surveillance.
According to a statement issued in Abuja by the Director, Media & Advocacy of NDLEA, Mr Femi Babfemi, operatives of the agency’s Special Operations Unit picked up the 42-year-old suspect, who is the Managing Director of Franc CJ Ibemesi Nig. Ltd., at his Daisy Garden Hotel on Ago Palace Way, Isolo, Lagos, in the early hours of 15 November.
NDLEA officers later led him to his warehouse on Pius Ezeobi Street, where they recovered 42 jumbo bags and four cartons of “Loud” cannabis weighing 1,762.8kg.
They also seized foreign currency found on him, including $11,600, £2,000, €2,200, and 50 Canadian dollars.
The agency also disrupted a major cannabis-processing syndicate in the Orita-Apeje and Araromi-Okeodo forest reserve in Ife South LGA, Osun State.
Operatives seized 11,135kg of skunk, two trucks used for distribution, and arrested seven suspects: Lucky Abiodun, Julius Amos, Victor Ngbikili, Sunday Oduegwu, Ibrahim Akanni, Eze Godstime, and Fred Ifeanyichukwu.
Across Edo State, NDLEA officers recovered 1,902.1kg of skunk, including 184.1kg along Oza/Igbanke road, 672kg from Utese forest, and 494kg from a Mercedes-Benz vehicle on the Benin–Akure road where a suspect, Felix Edah, 45, was arrested.
Another suspect, 51-year-old Lucky Abagha, was caught with 552kg of cannabis in a separate vehicle.
In Ogun State, operatives arrested four suspects—Micheal Okoh, Offor Agada, Raphael Nkemjika, and Nwabueze Franklin—with 68kg of skunk and 3.150kg of methamphetamine along the Ijebu-Ode Expressway.
In Taraba State, the agency arrested 50-year-old Danjuma Tukura, with 172kg of skunk at Sunkani in Ardo Kola LGA, and 24-year-oldWisdom Titus, 24, with 84kg at Takum.
NDLEA officers in Adamawa recovered 396,000 tramadol capsules from Ahmed Isyaku Nda, 50, at Aliyu Mustapha International Airport in Yola.
In Nasarawa, they evacuated 785kg of skunk from the warehouse of a dealer still at large in Asob Maraba Karu.
Multiple seizures were also recorded in Lagos where two suspects, Jamiu Kunle Kardoso and Oriyomi Waliu, were arrested in Surulere with 65.150kg of Canadian Loud, while Taofeek Moraina was arrested in Oyingbo with 141kg of Ghana Loud.
In Kwara State, operatives intercepted a truck conveying 197 blocks of skunk weighing 78.565kg and 155 cartons of rubber solutions on the Ilorin–Jebba Expressway and the driver, Umar Yakubu, was detained.
A commercial bus was also intercepted at Eiyenkorin with 20 blocks of skunk concealed in a 50-litre jerrycan, leading to the arrest of the driver, Ibrahim Bello.
Meanwhile, NDLEA commands across the country continued War against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization campaigns in schools, worship centres, workplaces, and communities in Zamfara, Ebonyi, Jigawa, Enugu, Lagos, and Ogun States.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), commended the commands involved and urged officers nationwide to sustain the agency’s push for a drug-free Nigeria.
A 40ft trailer load of skunk, a strain of cannabis, weighing 2,217.6 kilograms has been intercepted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, while being distributed into six vehicles at an abandoned fuel station in Kagini, Kubwa area of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT Abuja for onward distribution to some Northern states.
The intelligence-led operation, which took place at 1:20am on Saturday 11th January 2025 led to the seizure of not only the large illicit consignment but also the trailer and the six vehicles as well as the arrest of a suspect, 42-year-old Isaac Monday Desmond.
Femi Babafemi, Director, Media & Advocacy of NDLEA in a statement on Sunday said the consignment was loaded into the trailer at Uzebba in Owan local council area of Edo State.
In another raid in the FCT, two suspects: Anthony Nnamdi, 42, and Abba Ali, 27, were arrested by NDLEA officers at Nyanya, where a combined 1.398kg cocaine and a precursor substance used in preparing crack cocaine were recovered from them.
No fewer than 20 wraps of cocaine weighing 330grams have been recovered from a cargo going to Australia at a logistics firm in Lagos by officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation, DOGI, in NDLEA.
The cocaine parcels were concealed around the body of face cream containers in the shipment.A total of Three Hundred and Thirty-Eight Thousand Two Hundred (338,200) bottles of codeine-based syrup worth more than One Billion One Hundred and Ninety Million One Hundred and Sixty-Eight Thousand Two Hundred Naira (N1,190,168,200.00) in street value, were intercepted in two containers watch-listed by the Agency following processed intelligence.
The illicit consignments were discovered during joint examination of the containers by NDLEA operatives, Customs and other security agencies on Thursday 9th and Friday 10th January 2025 at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne, Rivers state.
In Lagos, the traditional chief priest of the Igunuko shrine, Alpha beach Ajah Lekki where 2,760kg skunk was recovered on 25th October 2024, Bariu Aliu (alias Malo) has been arrested by NDLEA operatives after over three months of manhunt for him.
Though two of his accomplices were earlier arrested at the shrine last year and had since been charged and convicted in court, Bariu was said to be the leader of the syndicate.
A suspect, Habibu Ya’u, 23, was nabbed by NDLEA officers who raided Gadar Tamburawa, Zaria road, Kano on Thursday 9th January where they recovered 45 blocks of cannabis weighing 24.2kg; and 40,800 pills of opioids including tramadol from him.
While commending the officers and men of DOGI, FCT, PHPC, Lagos, and Kano Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd) stated that their operational successes and those of their compatriots across the country especially their balanced approach to drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts are well appreciated.
Operatives of the Nigerian Army, 35 Artillery Brigade have intercepted a vehicle conveying a large quantity of substance suspected to be Cannabis Sativa at Mologbede village in Odeda Local Government Area of Ogun State.
A statement by the Army’s Public relations officer in the state, Mohammed Goni said The 441 wrapped pieces of Pawpaw-sized Cannabis Sativa, weighing 223Kg were intercepted on Friday, 29 March 2024.
The Commander 35 Artillery Brigade, Brigadier General Mohammed Aminu who commended the troops for their effort urged them to continue to remain vigilant in their various locations.
While handing over the 441 wrapped pieces of Pawpaw-sized Cannabis Sativa weighing 223Kg and the Mazda vehicle to the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency Ogun State Command, the Commander, represented by Major Gadzama Abdullahi reiterated that the Brigade would continue to sustain all efforts in collaborating with other security agencies to get rid of crimes and other social vices in the State.
While speaking, the Commandant NDLEA Ogun State Command, Commander of Narcotics, Mrs Jane Odili expressed satisfaction over the synergy that exists between the Military and other security agencies in combating illicit drugs in the state.
She stressed that with the support of the military, NDLEA was able to break boundaries, burst drug syndicates and achieve a holistic outcome in their overall drug-fighting efforts.
Troops of the Nigerian Army have apprehended an 18-year-old named Michael Atanda and a 58-year-old, Adigun Olatunji, for trying to smuggle a substance believed to be cannabis into the country.
They were arrested after their vehicle was intercepted by the troops along the Balogun border in Ogun State following an intelligence report.
A statement on Sunday by the Director, Army Public Relations, Maj. Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, said a total of 296 wraps of cannabis concealed in their vehicle were recovered from the suspects.
He said the troops rejected the N12m bribe offered by the syndicate.
The statement partly read, “Troops of 192 Battalion, 81 Division, Nigerian Army, acting on credible intelligence intercepted a suspected transnational drug syndicate operating with a Sienna 2001 Model Space Bus, with registration number Lagos APP 129 EF, loaded with illicit substances, suspected to be Cannabis Sativa. The suspects were intercepted on Sunday 14 January 2024, along the Balogun border in Ogun State.
“Vigilant troops conducted a thorough search on the vehicle and detected layers of compartments packed with 296 wraps of substance suspected to be marijuana.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the wraps of illicit substance were transported from Benin Republic, through Ilara border communities en route Ifo, Ogun State.
It was further revealed that it took the transnational drug traffickers five months to conceal the substance for delivery to their clients. Two suspects were arrested in connection to the crime.
“The suspects, identified as one Mr Adigun Olatunji, age 54 years, and Mr Michael Atanda aged 18 years, both from Ilara Imeko in Afun LGA of Ogun State, reside in Benin Republic. “
The army spokesman added that the suspect had been taken into custody for further necessary actions, “after a failed attempt to bribe troops with the sum of N12,000,000.”
“Other items recovered from the suspects include one Benin Republic National ID Card, one Nigerian National ID card, and two small Itel mobile phones.
“Others include one Benin Republic driver’s licence; a Benin Republic passport, six Benin Republic SIM packs, two Benin Republic SIM cards, one Nigerian driver’s licence, one power bank, and one MP3 player.
“ Additionally, a memory card, local charms, as well as the sum of N52,700 only were recovered from the suspects.”
The troops of the battalion last year recorded a massive operational success when it confiscated a large cache of ammunition and illicit substances across the Nigerian and Benin Republic border on November 12, 2023.
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA Ikeja Lagos on New Year day, Monday 1st January 2024 intercepted a consignment of Colorado, a very strong strain of cannabis, concealed in boxing kits imported from the United States of America.
A weeklong intelligence-led operation to get the receiver arrested was consummated on Saturday 6th January following the successful tracking and arrest of 38-year-old Olorunfunmi Saheed Olakunle who distributes the dangerous psychoactive substance to dealers across Lagos state.
Femi Babafemi, Director, Media & Advocacy of NDLEA in Abuja on Sunday 7th January 2024, said the consignment had arrived the country on Monday, 1st January via Cairo on Egypt Airlines flight marked as boxing kits.
According to Saheed, he delivered such consignments to different recipients whenever his childhood friend, US-based Sagir Salami sent them.
The statement said further that the latest shipment has a total weight of 1.80 kilograms.
Meanwhile, a 28-year-old female supplier of ammunition to bandits, Bilkisu Suleman came top on the list of twelve (12) other suspects arrested by NDLEA operatives in new year interdiction operations in Kaduna, Lagos, Niger, Kogi, Kano, Borno, and Osun states.
Bilkisu was arrested on Wednesday 3rd January by NDLEA officers on patrol along Zaria Kano expressway in possession of 249 rounds of 7.62 mm live ammunition concealed in a black nylon bag kept in her ladys handbag.
She was on her way to deliver the ammunition to an identified bandit in Kakumi village, Katsina state when she was nabbed after which she was transferred to the Kaduna state command of the Nigeria Police Force for further investigation.
The military authorities at the Bonny camp cantonment in Lagos on Tuesday 2nd January transferred a suspect, Francis Suru, 37 and 63 jumbo bags of Ghana Loud, a strain of cannabis, weighing 2,104.2 kilograms and a truck to the Lagos state command of NDLEA.
The suspect and the drug exhibits were earlier intercepted by NDLEA officers on 12th December 2023 close to the gate of the military cantonment in Bonny Camp, Victoria Island.
Some armed escorts however resorted to sporadic shooting to obstruct the operation, a development which attracted soldiers from the cantonment, who eventually intervened and took custody of the consignment and suspect before transferring them to the Agency.
In the same vein, NDLEA operatives in Niger state on Thursday 5th January during a stop and search operation along Suleja-Kaduna road intercepted a J5 bus coming from Ondo state to Zaria, Kaduna state with twenty-three (23) bags of cannabis sativa weighing 219.5kg. Two suspects: Umar Musa, 26 and Isachiru Abubakar were arrested in connection with the seizure.
While a female drug trafficker, Queen Onyema, 27, was arrested on Saturday 6th January in a commercial bus enroute Abuja along Okene-Lokoja expressway with 12 compressed blocks of cannabis weighing 4.6kg and 0.046kg designer drugs concealed in an indomie carton, another suspect Mubarak Sani, 20, was nabbed at Gadar Tamburawa area of Kano on Monday 1st January with 445.9k kilograms of the same psychoactive substance.
In Borno, four suspects: Zanna Alhaji Dala, 32; Musa Umar, 21; Mushe Ibrahim, 23, and Shehu Idris, 19 were arrested at Pomfomari bye pass area of the state with 60kg cannabis.
Also, in Osun, NDLEA operatives on patrol along Osogbo-Ode Omu road on new year day, Monday 1st January intercepted a consignment of illicit drugs sent through waybill from Lagos to Osogbo. A follow-up operation led to the arrest of Ibrahim Olawale, 43.
The drugs recovered include: cannabis sativa 10.8kg; Loud 150grams; Colorado 19grams; Molly 5grams totalling 10.974kg. A digital scale, N18,000 monetary exhibit and customized wrapping papers for Colorado were also seized.
Commending the arrests and seizures of the past week by officers and men of the MMIA, Lagos, Niger, Kogi, Kano, Borno, and Osun Commands, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) charged them and their compatriots across all formations of the Agency to continue to remain vigilant and double their drug demand reduction as well as drug supply reduction efforts in the new year.
As notorious drug kingpin bags 7 years imprisonment
Desperate attempts by the tramadol drug cartel to smuggle into Nigeria over Two Million Four Hundred and Sixty-Five Thousand (2, 465, 000) tablets of the pharmaceutical opioid in 225mg and 250mg, weighing Two Thousand, Three Hundred and Fifty Six kilograms (2,356kgs) with an estimated street value of One Billion, Forty Million Naira (N1, 040, 000, 000) through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja Lagos have been foiled by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA.
Femi Babafemi, the Director, Media & Advocacy of NDLEA who made this known in a statement on Sunday, said the seizure of the drug on Friday 7th October came barely a week after about 13.5million pills of the same opioid worth over N8.8billion were recovered by NDLEA operatives from one of the mansions of a billionaire drug baron in the highbrow residential estate, Victoria Garden City, VGC, Lekki Lagos.
Following credible intelligence, the Agency had shown interest in the consignment of 52 cartons that came into Nigeria from Karachi, Pakistan with six different airway bills via Ethiopian Airline flight, comprising seven cartons of 250mg of a brand called tamral and 45 cartons of 225mg, branded as tramaking.
Soon after its arrival at the Lagos airport, the NDLEA called for a joint examination of the consignment with other stakeholders and after its information was confirmed by all, the 52 cartons of the seized substance which are above the recommended threshold for medical use and banned in the country, were moved to the Agencys facility.
In the same vein, another bid to export through the airport 15 parcels of cannabis and 600grams of tramadol 225mg concealed in a sack of crayfish to Dubai, UAE was equally thwarted by operatives who seized the consignment and subsequently arrested a freight agent, Osahor Alex Ekwueme, who presented it for export.
Weeks after NDLEA operatives intercepted 5.20kgs of cannabis concealed in kegs of palm oil going to Dubai at the NAHCO export shed of the airport, the brain behind the consignment, Ifeanyi Egbuwaohia, has been arrested in Igando area of Lagos. Though Ifeanyi works as a technician at Computer Village, Ikeja but beneath his known business he also works with a drug network in Dubai, where he sends illicit drugs for distribution. Few hours after his arrest, another consignment of 2.60kgs of the same substance sent by him for export to Dubai was also intercepted by operatives at the airport.
Another consignment of 1.30kgs of cannabis concealed in reconstructed engine blocks going to Dubai have also been seized at the SAHCO export shed while two persons: Olatunji Kehinde Temiola and Osemojoye Femi Sunday have been arrested in connection to the bid.
Meanwhile, In Kaduna state, a female drug dealer, Peace Ayuba, was on Friday 7th October arrested at Kakau Gonin Gora with seventy eight (78) bags of cannabis sativa weighing 849.5kgs, while operatives in Sokoto state arrested Onyeka Owo, 28, with 443 bottles of codeine based syrup.
Ten months after his arrest by NDLEA, a notorious drug dealer in Alaba Rago area of Ojo, Lagos, Alhaji Surajo Mohammed has been convicted and sentenced to seven years imprisonment by a Federal High Court in Lagos presided over by Justice Yellin Dogoro. Surajo was arrested with 941.15kgs cannabis on Monday 20th December 2021 and arraigned in court in charge number FHC/L/370c/2021. In his judgment delivered on Thursday 6th October 2022, the Judge however gave the convict an option of seven million naira fine.
While commending the officers and men of the MMIA, Kaduna, Sokoto and Lagos commands for the feats, Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) urged them and their compatriots across the country to remain steadfast, resolute and unrelenting until the last gram of illicit drugs is taken away from the streets of Nigeria.
The upsurge in the use of hard drugs remains a source of concern globally because of its effect on users, their families and loved ones.
In this report, Labizat Oduntan looks at the growing use of hard drugs among teenagers in the country.
Last year, a video went viral showing a young man drenched by dirty water as he rolled about in drainage.
It was the outcome of taking a hard drug with the street name “Colorado”.
Other illicit substances and drugs in common use include cocaine, heroin, cannabis, tramadol, codeine and diazepam.
A 2021 report by Statista indicates that over 270 million people engage in substance abuse globally.
In Nigeria, a study reveals that a lot of commercial bus drivers, farmers, sex workers, secondary school students who are obviously in their teens and undergraduates are on hard drugs.
A 2021 statistic by National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, buttresses the study, showing that forty per cent of youths within the age range of 18 and 25 years are deeply involved in the abuse of drugs.
Ready sources include drug markets, hawkers, fellow drug abusers, friends and drug pushers.
Two youths in Ibadan expressed their views on the use of drugs among their peers.
“Such youths became disoriented such that at that period he/she may not know who they are, it is not a necessary thing to take hard drugs because it will not solve the problem.”
While another youth recounted the experience of a friend who got entangled in the web of illicit substances.
“I am citing an example of a friend of mine who was under the influence of codeine. He wasn’t about to enjoy himself for like 40-45mins. He was so unconscious and started acting strange.”
A medical doctor, Olanrewaju Shomoye who said illicit substances use was prevalent among young people, highlights their injurious effects and equally outlined other impacts besides mental and bodily harm.
“It affects the way one thinks, feels and behave generally, also affects the way other people the abuser, sometimes they become depressed.”
“It affects their finances. They are not able to keep money, they spend too much money especially people on crack cocaine. They will need to do a lot of things to get money. Sometimes they go into stealing sometimes they go into robbery.”
Dr Shomoye pointed out that medical lifelines such as psycho-social methods exist for people who fall prey to hard drugs.
A drugs Expert and immediate past National Chairman of the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN), Samuel Adekola has expressed support for an advocacy by the Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, for medicinal use of cannabis.
The Expert insisted the governor’s call was lawful and urged shareholders to have a rethink on the urgent need to adopt cannabis for medicinal use.
Mr Adekola who spoke in Akure with our staff Reporter Leke Adegbite, pointed out that various international bodies had also taken a position that was in line with Akeredolu’s advocacy.
The former ACPN National President urged the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA to activate the laws that allow medicinal use of cannabis in the interest of the nation and her people.
Mr Adekola however kicked against recreational use of cannabis and smoking of the product should remain prohibited.
France will introduce on-the-spot fines nationwide for drug users, particularly targeting cannabis, from September.
The move comes amid concerns about drug-related violence and was announced by PM Jean Castex on a trip to Nice, which has seen weeks of unrest.
The roll-out of fines follows tests in cities such as Rennes and Marseilles.
The €200 ($233; £182) fixed fine will reduce to €150 if paid within 15 days. France is one of the leading consumers of cannabis in Europe.
Legislation on recreational cannabis use varies widely from country to country. Several nations, like Canada, have legalised it while others have policies of minor punishment. But many others impose severe jail terms.
But the laws, dating back to 1970, seldom lead to prison sentences, with magistrates preferring alternative punishments, often warnings.
Although there is the reduction for early fine payment in the new system, if an offender fails to pay up in time it increases to €450.
Mr Castex said the system would come in at the start of la rentrée, the beginning of the school year after the summer break.
The fines were initially proposed back in 2018 and were rolled out as tests in Rennes, Marseilles, Lille, Créteil and Boissy-Saint-Léger.
Why is the system being brought in now?
It’s part of the new prime minister’s plans to strengthen security. He said he wanted to “put an end to the violence of everyday life” .
He said the drugs measure would simplify police procedures by “inflicting punishment without delay”
Mr Castex added that it would target drug dealers at their points of sale, which were “eating away at neighbourhoods”.
He was speaking in the southern port city of Nice, which has witnessed growing drugs-related violence, including in its Moulins district, where shots were fired in broad daylight outside a supermarket this week.
As Mr Castex made his visit on Saturday, a young man was found dead from wounds in the city.
