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….intercepts UK-bound cocaine in body cream containers, meth concealed in water heater
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said its operatives raided Proxy Night Club at 7 Akin Adesola Street, Victoria Island, where a drug party was ongoing in the early hours of Sunday. Over 100 suspects, including the owner of the club, Mike Nwogu, popularly known as Pretty Mike, were arrested and taken into custody for screening.
Femi Babafemi, director of Media and Advocacy of the NDLEA, said in a statement that the agency recovered cartons of illicit substances, including loud and laughing gas, from suspects at the party and from the club’s store.
“The raid followed intelligence about the drug party. NDLEA operatives who were embedded in the party between 11 p.m. on Saturday, October 25, disrupted the gathering at about 3 a.m. on Sunday, October 26, in line with Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs),” the statement read.
The NDLEA also said it intercepted 70 parcels of cocaine factory-packed and concealed in the walls of cocoa butter formula body cream containers heading to London, United Kingdom, at the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos. Three suspects were arrested in a series of follow-up operations across the state.
The cocaine consignment, weighing 3.60 kilograms, was discovered on October 14, 2025, during the examination of cargo packaged as personal effects bound for London on an Air Peace flight, according to Babafemi.
The NDLEA spokesman said the cargo agent, Lawal Olakunle, who presented the consignment for air freight, was promptly arrested, while investigations stretching over two weeks led to the arrest of two principal suspects linked to the attempt to export the concealed Class A drug to the UK.
In a follow-up operation on October 18, a female healthcare worker, Ogunmuyide Deborah, was arrested, leading to the arrest of Mutiu Adebiyi, Chief Executive Officer of a travel agency, Mutiu Adebiyi & Co., at his office located at 23 Ladoke Akintola Street, Ikeja GRA, Lagos, on Monday, October 20.
In a similar development, a 35-year-old Lesotho national, Lemena Mark, was arrested while attempting to export 103.59 grams of methamphetamine concealed in a Diabeta Herbs Coffee Tea pack to the Philippines on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, on Wednesday, October 22. NDLEA officers thwarted the attempt and recovered the illicit drug.
The NDLEA said, “No fewer than 21,950 capsules of Tramadol 250mg concealed inside a 100-litre water heater were recovered from a suspect, Umar Abubakar, 40, who was arrested by NDLEA operatives at Bode Saadu, Moro Local Government Area of Kwara State, following credible intelligence.”
The anti-narcotic agency in Taraba State arrested two suspects, Auwal Musa, 26, and Salihu Bala, 22, with 450,000 pills of Tramadol and Exol-5 at the Dan-Anacha checkpoint while conveying the consignment in a truck loaded with building materials from Onitsha, Anambra State, to Mubi, Adamawa State.
NDLEA officers on patrol along the Okene–Lokoja Highway in Kogi State seized 162.2 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis, from a truck on Friday, October 24. Operatives in Nasarawa State also recovered 128 kilograms of the same psychoactive substance from a suspect, Abubakar Muhammad, 55, in the Keffi area of the state on Wednesday, October 22.
“A mother of two, Oyonumoh H.H., and her associate, Effiong, who is a major distributor of Canadian and California loud, both strong strains of cannabis, in the Lekki, Ajah, Ikoyi, Victoria Island, and VGC areas of Lagos, were arrested by NDLEA operatives on Friday, October 17.
“The arrest was made during a raid at her Lekki home, where 500 grams of the illicit substance were recovered.
“In the Ikorodu area of Lagos, NDLEA officers on Thursday, October 23, raided the home of a suspect, Ogunyabo Adenigbigbe, at Solomade Estate, where 275 litres of skuchies—a new psychoactive substance produced with blackcurrant drink, cannabis, and opioids—were recovered.
“A 75-year-old grandfather, Echendu Onuoka, was on Wednesday, October 22, arrested at Ovum village, Obingwa LGA, Abia State, with 4.7 kilograms of skunk seized from him, while a 60-year-old grandmother, Aukana John, was nabbed with 225 grams of the same substance at Apanta village in the same LGA.
“While 150 kilograms of skunk were recovered during a raid operation at Lot Camp, Ikun Akoko, Ondo State, two suspects, Bashir Mohammad, 50, and Samini Tijjani, 35, were arrested with 234.5 kilograms of the same substance at Yan Aya, Saminaka, in Lere LGA, Kaduna State, on Friday, October 24. Another set of suspects, Isah Usman, 50, and Salvation Okoler, 18, were also arrested along the Abuja–Kaduna Highway with 8,600 pills of Tramadol 225mg and Rohypnol.”
Read also: Agric Ministry, NDLEA partner to fight cannabis abuse, boost food security
At the Seme border area of Lagos, NDLEA operatives, on Wednesday, October 22, arrested Jacob Ojugbele with 55kg of skunk at Ashipa, Badagry, while Amusa Oluwabukola was arrested with 121.3 litres of skuchies at Itoga, Badagry.
In Zamfara State, NDLEA operatives on patrol along the Gummi-Anka Road, on Monday, October 20, arrested a suspect, Abubakar Ibrahim, 30, in possession of an AK-47 rifle and 1,746 assorted rounds of ammunition for AK-47 and GPMG rifles while transporting them from Sokoto to Bagega Forest, Anka LGA, Zamfara. Both the suspect and the exhibits have been handed over to the appropriate security agency for further investigation.
The agency said it is pursuing its war against drug crimes with renewed vigour across all its commands and formations nationwide.
It added that it has continued to intensify the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces, and communities across the country over the past week.
“These include WADA sensitisation lectures for students and staff of Asabari Grammar School, Iluwa Isale Oke, Saki West LGA, Oyo State; Government Day Girls Secondary School, Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State; St. Mark’s College, Nsude, Enugu State; Kusaki Secondary School, Gboko North, Benue State; Government Day Secondary School, Serti-Baruwa, Gashaka LGA, Taraba State; Police Children School 2, Port Harcourt, Rivers State; and Hajara Ahmad International School, Tudun Wada, Kano State, among others,” the NDLEA said.
