NDLEA Arrests Convicted Cocaine Trafficker Behind Saudi Shipments, Seizes Over 2m Opioid Pills
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a convicted cocaine trafficker who allegedly returned to the illicit drug trade under a new identity, while intercepting more than two million opioid pills and large consignments of cannabis, methamphetamine and other controlled substances in coordinated operations across nine states.
The agency said the suspect, identified as 34-year-old Dunu Bethel Ebubechukwu, was arrested on Friday, September 4, 2026, during a sting operation at Article Market, opposite Trade Fair Market, in the Ojo area of Lagos State, where he was posing as a herbal tea merchant.
Ebubechukwu was allegedly linked to a 1.2kg cocaine consignment concealed inside phone chargers and destined for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which was intercepted at a courier company in Lagos on July 31.
According to the NDLEA, intelligence-led investigations by operatives of its Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) subsequently traced the alleged mastermind to Lagos.
The agency said the suspect admitted masterminding previous illicit drug shipments and disclosed that he discarded his telephone SIM card after learning that the latest cocaine consignment had been intercepted.
Further investigation, the NDLEA said, established that Ebubechukwu had previously been arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, in 2011 after allegedly ingesting 900 grammes of cocaine and 130 grammes of heroin while attempting to travel to Austria.
He was prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to five years in prison under the name Dunu Chukwuyenre Enoch, before subsequently changing his name and allegedly returning to drug trafficking.
A search of his residence at Yemishola Street, Ejigbo, Lagos, also led to the recovery of phone chargers similar to those allegedly used to conceal the intercepted cocaine. The chargers had their internal components removed to create compartments for drugs.
NDLEA intercepts opioid haul at Lagos airport
At the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives recovered 966,200 tablets of Tramadol 225mg, valued at more than N1.1 billion, concealed among thrift trousers in a 21-carton consignment imported from Pakistan.
The agency also seized 57.8kg of Loud, a potent synthetic strain of cannabis, estimated at more than N173 million in street value.
The cannabis was hidden inside cartons of disposable hand gloves in a shipment from Singapore that had remained unclaimed for weeks before a joint examination by NDLEA officers, the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies on September 3.
In another major interception, operatives pursued a 20,000-litre fuel tanker marked MKA 960 XC along the Akoko-Lokoja Expressway in Ondo State on September 4 after its driver allegedly refused to stop.
The driver reportedly abandoned the tanker at a church premises in Ugbe Akoko and fled into the bush.
A search of the vehicle uncovered a concealed compartment containing 165 bags of cannabis weighing 2,145kg, alongside its legitimate fuel cargo reportedly destined for Jos, Plateau State.
598kg cannabis-laced cookies seized at Tincan Port
At the Tincan Island Port in Lagos, NDLEA operatives intercepted another 598.08kg, comprising 890 packets, of cannabis-infused cookies and gummies concealed in a 40-foot container on September 2.
Read Also:
The agency said the consignment was linked to three suspects—Yashim Dauji, Larry Ifeanyi and Joseph Moji—who were arrested about a month earlier after 842.54kg of cannabis-laced cookies were seized at the same port.
Massive opioid, meth seizures in Adamawa
In Adamawa State, operatives on patrol along the Damilu-Jambutu axis of Jimeta, Yola North Local Government Area, recovered 864,000 opioid pills, principally Tramadol, from a residence linked to a fleeing suspect, Patrick KC Frank.
The agency said Frank escaped after his Honda Civic car rammed an NDLEA patrol vehicle.
In Michika, a suspected major methamphetamine supplier from Lagos to the Mubi and Michika axis, identified as 35-year-old Calistus Ebubechukwu, was arrested with 2kg of methamphetamine.
Another suspect, Attahiru Hussaini, was intercepted at the Namtari checkpoint in Mubi on August 31 with a large quantity of Tramadol and other opioids concealed in a soap-laden Ford Galaxy bus marked JJM-953XD.
NDLEA seizes cannabis, cocaine, tramadol in Lagos
In Lagos, the agency said its operatives recovered 2,386.9kg of cannabis, 350 grammes of cocaine, more than 100kg of assorted Tramadol grades, 9.7 litres of codeine syrup and 4kg of Rohypnol at Gbaji.
Two suspects, Damilare Francis and Emeh Emmanuel, were also arrested at Agbara with 720kg of cannabis.
In Kogi State, three suspects—Saidu Mustapha, 35; Zaharadeen Salisu, 29; and AbdulSalam Abdullahi, 25—were arrested with 636kg of cannabis allegedly concealed in chicken manure inside a bus travelling from Owo, Ondo State, to Jos, Plateau State, along the Okene-Lokoja highway.
Drug haul intercepted across Taraba, Kaduna, Bauchi
In Taraba State, 58-year-old Kelechi Unachukwu was arrested along the Zaki-Biam Road in Wukari Local Government Area with more than 109kg of assorted controlled pharmaceuticals.
The drugs included Tramadol, Diazepam, Pentazocine, Phenobarbital, Exol-5, Nitrazepam, Bromazepam and Pregabalin. They were allegedly being conveyed in his Toyota Corolla, marked KUJ-333BT, from Onitsha, Anambra State, to Yola, Adamawa State.
In Kaduna, NDLEA operatives intercepted a truck loaded with bags of cement along the Zaria-Kano Expressway and recovered 1,179kg of skunk concealed in the vehicle.
Meanwhile, 25-year-old Hamza Dahiru was arrested in Bauchi in a follow-up operation after the seizure of 322.5kg of cannabis at Deba town in Gombe State on September 1.
In Ekiti State, operatives uncovered and destroyed a four-hectare cannabis farm in the Efon-Alaaye forest, recovering 117kg of already harvested skunk. Two suspects, Chuks Alex, 50, and Asafa Adekunle, 35, were arrested.
In Enugu, a 20-year-old suspect, Obinna David, was arrested at Ugbema Junction on September 5 with 40,590 capsules of Tramadol.
Marwa vows sustained crackdown
The NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers of the agency’s DOGI, MMIA, Ondo, Tincan, Lagos, Adamawa, Kaduna, Bauchi, Ekiti, Kogi, Taraba and Enugu Commands for what he described as professional and intelligence-driven operations.
Marwa urged personnel across the country to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control, combining enforcement operations with drug-demand reduction and public sensitisation.
He warned that drug traffickers who attempt to evade law enforcement by adopting new identities or disguising their criminal activities behind legitimate businesses would continue to be tracked down.
The NDLEA also reported continued War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation programmes in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities across the country during the week.
By PRNigeria
