The NDLEA intercepts people from the UK, discovers opioids in loaves of bread and music speakers

*Arrest the real estate agent, grandmother and others; recovers over 2.3 tonnes of assorted illicit drugs in raids in Lagos, Ondo, Edo, Delta, Kaduna, Plateau, Bayelsa, Kano

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted two consignments of synthetic cannabis, popularly called Colorado or Colos in street terms, hidden in consolidated consignments from the United Kingdom, while two other consignments of the dangerous substance hidden in music speakers were recovered from two car parks in Lagos, where at least seven suspects linked to the seized consignments have been arrested.

At the import shed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja Lagos, NDLEA operatives intercepted a consignment entering the UK concealing 27 parcels of colos weighing 32.20kg, while an estate agent Abideen Jide Salami, who showed up with a secret collection code passed on by his UK-based brother to collect a large bag containing the illicit substance, was arrested on Wednesday, September 9 2026.

A follow-up operation stemming from a second UK shipment led operators to the intended recipient of another Colorado shipment weighing 12.25kg. Suspect Nurudeen Abiodun Kadiri, 44, said the consignment was sent to him by his brother in the UK.

Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives from the Directorate of General Operations and Investigations (DOGI) intercepted a music speaker equipped with three packs of Colorado at a car park in Maza Maza, Lagos, en route to Abidjan, Ivory Coast and finally Liberia. A tourism agent Ifeanyi Obed Augustine, 41, and expedition owner Obasi Ugochuckwu, 46, were both arrested after a quick sting operation at a nearby restaurant. In a separate operation at Iddo park, one suspect Ifeanyi Nwokolo Henry was caught on Friday, September 11 while attempting to ship 2.1kg of Colorado to Kano.

In Delta State, two separate arrests in Ughelli and Asaba yielded a haul of vials of injectable pentazocine, codeine syrup, tramadol, diazepam, flunitrazepam (hypnox) and MDMA (Molly), many of them hidden in loudspeakers, while two suspects: Emeka Oji and Chukwuebuka Anedi were arrested.

In Kano, a raid in Sabon Gari led to the arrest of 20-year-old suspect Saidu Adamu with a staggering 785,000 Pregabalin capsules weighing 669.425kg, while a stop and search operation along the Zaria-Kano-Hadejia road recovered 1,700 diazepam tablets hidden inside loaves of bread seized in Habibu Sabitu, 28 years old. even as Chinedu Uzor, 51, was caught at Katako market, Jos, Plateau State, with 157,100 capsules of tramadol.

The Agency also continued to put pressure on illicit cannabis cultivation with the destruction of 4,832.56 kilograms of skunk in cannabis plantations in Usen, Igwe-Oke and Ogboha forests, in Ovia South West, Owan East and Owan West LGA, Edo State, where a suspect Sunday Segun, 39, was arrested on Friday, September 11.

In Ondo State, NDLEA operatives acting on credible intelligence on Wednesday, September 9, raided a residence along Oke-Iya, Ijoka Road, Akure, where they recovered 186kg of skunk hidden in the trunk of a Toyota Avalon car marked ABJ 917 FV, from a 58-year-old suspect Paul Ogbuwala who was planning to move the consignment to Jos for onward distribution.

In Kaduna, a suspect Hannah Michael was arrested in Gonin Gora with 369.6kg of cannabis, while in Bayelsa State, four suspects, including a 70-year-old Godwoman Gboriye, were arrested in Ovom, Yenagoa, with 110 bags of cannabis weighing 876kg. The others are: Motombo Silver, 44; Pere Andrew, 39, and ⁠Keme Andrew, 43.

With the same vigor, the Agency’s commands and formations across the country continued their awareness raising activity on the War on Drug Abuse (WADA) in schools, worship centers, workplaces and communities, among others, last week. These include: WADA enlightenment lecture to students and staff of Mezube Islamiyya Academy, Tudun Wada, Kano; WADA Support Visit to the Management of Cross River State College of Health Technology, Calabar; and the hospitality of the traditional rulers of Rikkos who were on a thank you visit to the NDLEA Academy for allowing community members to use the Agency’s clinic, Jos; while the

The NDLEA Zone 4 Command paid a WADA support visit to the Emir of Keffi, Alhaji Shehu Chindo Yamusa 111, Keffi, Nasarawa State among others.

While commending the officers and men of the DOGI, MMIA, Ondo, Edo, Delta, Kaduna, Plateau, Bayelsa and Kano Commands for the various successful operations, the President/Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. General Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd) enjoined them and their colleagues across the country to continue with the current balanced approach to the Agency’s drug control efforts. He instructed them to continue to shut down every pipeline used by drug cartels, whether at airports, seaports, land borders, or inland where cannabis is grown.