The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has secured an interim forfeiture order for 17 containers laden with illicit opioids valued at more than ₦33.6bn, in what officials describe as one of the agency’s most significant seizures in recent years.
The order was granted by Justice Adamu Turaki Mohammed of the Federal High Court of Nigeria sitting in Port Harcourt, following an ex parte motion filed by the agency in February.
According to a statement by NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, the containers were intercepted at the Onne Port Complex across multiple operations between April and September 2025.
The shipments were found to contain 19.6m pills of controlled substances — including tramadol, tafrodol, tapentadol and carisoprodol — alongside 2,496,400 bottles of codeine syrup, with a combined street value estimated at ₦33,691,200,000.
In his ruling, the judge ordered the interim forfeiture of the containers and their contents to the federal government, describing them as 365,657kg of psychotropic substances illegally imported into the country by unidentified persons.
NDLEA chairman Mohamed Buba Marwa said the forfeiture marked a decisive strike against drug trafficking networks.
“This is not just a seizure; it is a total dispossession of the resources the drug cartels intended to use in destroying the lives of our youths and funding further criminality,” he said, adding that stripping syndicates of assets on this scale weakens their operational capacity.
Marwa said the move also underscored efforts to prevent proceeds from illicit drug trade from fuelling terrorism and other organised crimes, while praising the judiciary for its continued support in enforcement actions.
He commended officers at the Onne port command, as well as the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies, for their roles in the interceptions, and acknowledged international partners for intelligence-sharing and technical assistance.
The seizure forms part of a broader crackdown by the NDLEA on the growing influx of opioids and other psychotropic substances into Nigeria, a trend increasingly linked to organised crime and mounting public health concerns.
In recent years, authorities have tightened surveillance at key entry points, including ports in the Niger Delta, as they seek to disrupt trafficking routes and dismantle networks supplying illicit drugs into the country.
