After evading capture for more than seven years, a 60-year-old drug baron has finally been apprehended by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
The agency confirmed the arrest in a statement released on Sunday by its Director of Media and Advocacy, Mr. Femi Babafemi, in Abuja.
According to the statement, the notorious trafficker—who had been on the NDLEA’s wanted list since 2019—was picked up from his hideout in the Isheri area of Lagos State on July 13. His arrest came in the wake of a successful operation earlier that morning when NDLEA officers intercepted a major consignment linked to him around 5:45 a.m. at Ilasamaja, along the Apapa-Oshodi expressway.
Babafemi revealed that the breakthrough came through actionable intelligence that led to the capture of one of the suspect’s couriers en route to Onitsha, Anambra State. The courier, who was traveling in a white Toyota Sienna, was intercepted and subjected to a search using the agency’s sniffer dogs.
“7.6 kg of cocaine and 900 grams of methamphetamine were found hidden in body compartments of the vehicle,” Babafemi stated.
Following that seizure, NDLEA officers swiftly launched a follow-up operation at the drug kingpin’s residence in Isheri, where they recovered an additional 1.8kg of cocaine and 1.3kg of methamphetamine.
In a separate operation, Babafemi disclosed that NDLEA agents, in collaboration with the Aviation Security unit of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, intercepted a consignment containing 7,790 pills of tramadol and rohypnol. The drugs were concealed in the luggage of a traveler heading to Italy via Istanbul aboard a Turkish Airlines flight.
“The suspect claimed he bought the drugs himself, hoping to sell them in that country at higher prices,” Babafemi said.
Still at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, NDLEA personnel intercepted 17 parcels of skunk—a potent strain of cannabis—on Thursday. The 1.70kg of illicit substance was hidden in packs of a well-known cereal brand, disguised as part of a consolidated cargo heading to Pakistan. One suspect has been arrested in connection with the attempt.
In another significant operation, NDLEA officers seized 45,000 tramadol pills from a 30-year-old suspect along the Onitsha-Enugu expressway on Wednesday.
That same day, Babafemi noted, operatives in Taraba State arrested two suspects in Gassol Local Government Area. The duo was found with 10,000 caps of tramadol and a gram of cannabis.
These operations are part of the agency’s intensified crackdown on the illicit drug trade, aimed at dismantling trafficking networks and cutting off the supply chain of hard drugs across the country.
