Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted multiple consignments of illicit drugs concealed in cartons, winter jackets, and body cream containers, preventing their export to Europe.
 The operations were carried out at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport and a courier firm in Lagos, alongside coordinated raids across several states.
Two shipments bound for Italy led to the arrest of suspects at the Lagos airport. One of them, Friday Ehianuka, 37, was intercepted on March 20, 2026, while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Rome.
 NDLEA officers discovered 2,698 pills of tramadol (225mg) concealed inside containers of skin-lightening body cream in his luggage. Ehianuka, a resident of Milan, admitted he was promised payment in euros upon successful delivery.
In another operation on March 18, NDLEA officers arrested Christian Agbonhese, 38, who was heading to Milan on a Lufthansa flight. A search of his luggage uncovered 28,470 opioid pills hidden in two large winter jackets, including tramadol and tapentadol tablets.
At a Lagos courier company, officers intercepted parcels containing 1kg of Loud cannabis shipped from the United States, and 158 grams of methamphetamine concealed within a carton destined for New Zealand.
Across the country, several major seizures were recorded: In Kano, suspects were arrested with over 198kg of skunk.
In Lagos, 21,737 bottles of codeine syrup were recovered during a raid at Otto, Ijora, while two suspects were caught on the 3rd Mainland Bridge with 8,380 bottles.
In Edo State, 97.5kg of skunk was recovered from a suspect’s residence.
In Abuja, 91,840 tramadol pills were discovered hidden in a commercial bus along the Gwagwalada expressway.
In Oyo, Kaduna, Taraba, and Adamawa states, authorities seized hundreds of thousands of tramadol pills and arrNDLEA Chairman, Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended officers across the agency’s commands for their efforts and urged them to maintain a balanced approach to drug control, combining enforcement with the agency’s War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization campaigns in schools and communities nationwide.
The agency reaffirmed its commitment to dismantling drug trafficking networks and preventing the export and distribution of illicit substances across Nigeria and beyond.
