…Intercepts tramadol bound for insurgents, seizes N7.9m in drug cash
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has carried out sweeping operations across multiple states, arresting a 75-year-old man, dismantling trafficking networks, and destroying over 178,000 kilogrammes of cannabis cultivated on a massive forest farm in Taraba State.
The agency announced the coordinated crackdown in a statement signed on Sunday by its Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, detailing a string of raids that led to several arrests and significant seizures.
According to the statement, septuagenarian Uchelue Ikechukwu was apprehended on Thursday, 28 August, at Umudioka in Dunukofia Local Government Area of Anambra State with 26.7 kilogrammes of skunk. The statement read: “A 75-year-old grandfather, Uchelue Ikechukwu, was among six suspects arrested with illicit substances in operations conducted by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) across parts of Anambra State. Thirty-year-old Alfa Andrew was also detained after authorities uncovered and destroyed 178,750 kilogrammes of skunk on his 71.5-hectare cannabis farm in Mayodoga forest, Sardauna Local Government Area of Taraba State.”
The agency further disclosed that other suspects—Eneh Makuo, Emmanuel Chiemeli, Uwakwe Matthew, Chukwujekwu Ehirim, Ifeanyichukwu Olisa, and Odoh Chukwuma—were arrested at Nkwelle and Amichi areas of Anambra State with varying quantities of opioids and cannabis.
In Taraba, heavily armed NDLEA operatives, supported by the Nigerian Army, the Nigeria Forest Security Service, local vigilantes, and the Mambila Youth Vanguard, stormed Mayodoga forest, where they razed a sprawling cannabis farm. “In his case, Andrew was arrested with a Dane gun on Tuesday, 26 August, when NDLEA personnel and their security partners raided his 71.5-hectare cannabis farm in Mayodoga forest, Mayosabere Ward, Sardauna LGA, Taraba State, where 178,750 kilogrammes of skunk were destroyed,” the statement said.
The crackdown also extended to major highways. At the Abuja–Kaduna tollgate on Friday, 29 August, NDLEA operatives intercepted a fuel tanker concealing 104,900 tramadol capsules in its driver’s compartment. The consignment was suspected to be destined for insurgent groups in parts of Borno State. A suspect, Hassan Buba, was immediately detained.
At the Gwargwaje–Zaria checkpoint, officers arrested 45-year-old Kabir Sulaiman with 34.150 kilogrammes of skunk.
Further north, NDLEA operatives in Maiduguri tracked and arrested a suspected drug trafficker, 33-year-old Uchenna Umeh, who was identified as a major supplier of opioids in Borno State. “Following intelligence and surveillance, NDLEA operatives in an interdiction operation on Saturday, 30 August, arrested a major supplier of illicit opioids in Borno State, shortly after he collected his supplies from Onitsha, Anambra State,” the agency stated. Recovered from Umeh’s residence at Chescon, Pompomary, were 30,640 tramadol 225mg tablets, 7,940 rohypnol pills, and ₦7,999,200 in new ₦200 notes.
Simultaneous raids across Nasarawa, Adamawa, Gombe, Kano, Edo, Lagos, Ondo, and Ekiti States uncovered hundreds of thousands of opioid pills, processed cannabis, and codeine syrup concealed in freezers, sacks of animal feed, and vehicles.
One of the most significant seizures was recorded in Ekiti State. “In what appears to be the single largest seizure of Loud and Colorado, two potent strains of cannabis, in Ekiti State, NDLEA operatives acting on credible intelligence on Friday, 29 August, raided Nova Street, behind New Creation School, Ado-Ekiti. There they confiscated 5.3 kilogrammes of Loud and Colorado, alongside 2.5 grammes of methamphetamine, from a 42-year-old drug kingpin, Ajayi Ayodeji Idowu, also known as Atiku,” the statement read.
The NDLEA affirmed that its latest wave of operations demonstrates its ongoing commitment to dismantling drug trafficking networks, uprooting large-scale cannabis cultivation, and intercepting illicit substances across Nigeria.
