Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted large consignments of illicit drugs concealed in sachets of coffee mix and arrested 22 Indian crew members of a merchant vessel over a 31.5 kilogram cocaine seizure at the Apapa Port, Lagos.
The agency said the drugs—Ketamine, Ecstasy and Tramadol pills were discovered at a courier company in Lagos on December 24 and 29, 2025. The consignments were hidden inside coffee sachets and book parcels bound for Zambia and the United Kingdom.
In a related operation, NDLEA officers at the GDNL terminal, Apapa Port, on Friday, January 2, 2026, seized 31.5kg of cocaine concealed in hatch 3 of a merchant vessel, MV Aruna Hulya, which sailed in from the Marshall Islands.
Following the discovery, the agency detained the Master of the vessel, Sharma Shashi Bhushan, alongside 21 other Indian crew members for investigation.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives in Oyo State arrested a wanted female drug kingpin, Fatima Ilori, popularly known as Mama Kerosine, in Ibadan. The 65-year-old grandmother, described as a major distributor of illicit drugs in the state capital, was apprehended on Monday, December 29, 2025, during an intelligence-led operation.
Her arrest followed the seizure of 238.4kg of skunk, a potent strain of cannabis, linked to her. Another female suspect, Olusanya Abosede, 35, was also arrested at the Onireke/Elekuro area of Ibadan.
In Borno State, NDLEA further disrupted drug supply chains allegedly linked to insurgents with the arrest of two suspects and the seizure of large quantities of opioids.
One suspect, Isa Mohammed, 26, was arrested along the Maiduguri–Gamboru Ngala road with 9,150 ampoules of Tramadol injection on Friday, January 2, 2026. Another suspect, Musa Samaila, 30, was nabbed the same day at Biu market with 34,000 capsules of Tramadol.
In Lagos, no fewer than 400kg of skunk were recovered along with a van at the Mobolaji Johnson area on New Year’s Day, Thursday, January 1, 2026.
In Jigawa State, NDLEA officers arrested a suspect, Bilya Ibrahim, 39, at a motor park in Hadejia town on Tuesday, December 30, 2025, while attempting to transport 260 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 140.8kg from Taraba State to Nguru, Yobe State.
Similarly, in Kwara State, NDLEA officers recovered 238.5kg of skunk from the residence of a suspect in the Asadam area of Ilorin on Tuesday, December 30, 2025.
On New Year’s Eve, Wednesday, December 31, officers also seized 32,000 pills of Tramadol and Diazepam from a suspect, Abubakar Rabiu, 32, at Bode Saadu in Moro Local Government Area.
Beyond enforcement, the agency said its commands nationwide sustained War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization campaigns during the week. These included enlightenment lectures at Madrasatu Fadimatul Zahra, Sabuwar Abuja Kankia in Katsina State; outreach to members of the Topo Youth Progressive Organisation in Badagry, Lagos; and community engagement at the palace of the Hakimi of Madalla in Niger State.
Commending the officers and men of the DOGI, Apapa, Oyo, Borno, Lagos, Kwara and Jigawa commands for the arrests and seizures, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), urged them and their colleagues nationwide to further intensify the agency’s drug control and abuse prevention efforts.
