NDLEA Outsmarts Traffickers, Blunts New Cocaine Export Scheme in Lagos

By Omoyeni Ojeifo

Outsmarting drug traffickers in their latest scheme, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has foiled a fresh attempt to export cocaine through a Lagos-based logistics company.”

Concealed in a factory-fitted base of a local mortar packaged for export to China, the agency intercepted 250 grams of cocaine while another 500 grams was concealed in the false bottom of a backpack prepared for shipment to Italy.

The interceptions were recorded by operatives of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigations, (DOGI), on July 30, 2026, while separate operations between July 26 and 28 led to arrests and drug seizures in Rivers, Anambra, Delta, Nasarawa and Zamfara states.

NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, revealed details of the operations in a statement emailed to Persecondnews on Sunday.

According to the NDLEA, officers recovered 250 grams of cocaine factory-fitted into the base of a local mortar packaged for export to China and 500 grams concealed in the false bottom of a backpack bound for Italy.

Operatives also arrested 38-year-old Ugo Gift Okonkwo at Eagle Island, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on July 26, recovering cannabis, cocaine, methamphetamine, swinol, tramadol and codeine syrup.

Meanwhile in Anambra, NDLEA operatives on a stop-and-search operation at the DMGS Roundabout, Onitsha, on July 27 intercepted a truck marked XK 131 BDG loaded with 26,000 bottles of codeine syrup weighing 3,960 kilograms and arrested its 40-year-old driver, Chinedu Nwanze

Officers of the NDLEA also recovered 331.84 kilograms of skunk from a Toyota Sienna with registration number KUJ 26 DV along the Kwale-Ughelli Expressway in Delta State on July 26.

Similarly in Nasarawa State, officers arrested 64-year-old Joseph Nwaeke on July 28 at Asso Angwan Muazu in Karu with 68 kilograms of skunk and 29 grams of methamphetamine.

In Zamfara State, officers
Intercepted 27-year-old Sani Umar on July 27 along the Zaria-Gusau Highway with 7,400 tramadol 225mg pills suspected to be supplies for criminal elements.

While intensifying its crackdown on drug trafficking, NDLEA also sustained its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaign in schools, workplaces, worship centres and communities, including the Challenge Bus Terminal Park in Ibadan and schools in Kano, Oyo and Taraba.

Retired Brig.-Gen Buba Marwa, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, commended officers of the (DOGI) and the Rivers, Anambra, Delta, Nasarawa and Zamfara commands for the successful operations and urged them to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control through enforcement and public sensitisation.