Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have successfully dismantled a drug trafficking syndicate in high-stakes intelligence-led operations that lasted three weeks, during which cocaine consignments concealed in tins of palm kernel extract heading to the United Kingdom were intercepted and the warehouse where the shipments are packaged was raided while all the three layers of the group were unraveled, leading to the arrest of the kingpin.
The breakthrough began on Wednesday, 11th March 2026, when NDLEA officers of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Strategic Command Ikeja Lagos intercepted 3.10 kilograms of cocaine at the export shed of the airport. The illicit substance was meticulously hidden inside tins of palm kernel extract intended for shipment to the UK.
Two suspects handling the shipment, Idris Olayiwola Amoo and Akinlami Akinsoji Adedoyin, were promptly arrested. To unravel the sender and the arrowhead of the drug syndicate, a well-coordinated sting operation was carried out on Thursday, 2nd April, leading to the arrest of the sender of the consignment, Ezemuwo Joel, who operates under a fake identity as Ajayi.
His arrest provided the link to the syndicate’s head, 52-year-old King Arinze, who was flushed out of a hideout in the Isolo area of Lagos. He was thereafter taken to his warehouse at 11, Ola Ifa Street, Bucknor, Isolo where NDLEA operatives recovered
886 tins of palm kernel extract prepared for drug concealment; industrial tools, including a sealing machine, tin openers, paint sprays; 52 grams of cannabis sativa, and a pack of hand gloves. Arinze has since confessed to personally draining the oil from the tins to conceal the cocaine.
In a separate but equally significant operation in Borno state, NDLEA operatives on Wednesday, 1st April, intercepted a female drug supplier to bandit groups operating between the North East and Chad, 28-year-old Aisha Adamu. She was arrested along Gamboru Ngala road in possession of 4.3 kilograms of Colorado, a potent synthetic strain of cannabis.
Meanwhile, the pastor in charge of the Celestial Church of Christ, Agonvi Sea Beach, Sakpo area of Seme border, Badagry in Lagos State, Pastor Afolabi Hodonu, 45, and his wife, Mrs. Success Hodonu, 35, were on Thursday, 2nd April, arrested by NDLEA operatives at the Gbaji checkpoint. A search of their Honda Pilot SUV led to the recovery of blocks of skunk weighing 11 kg concealed in hidden parts of their vehicle.
The arrest of the couple followed the apprehension of a fake security agent, Samuel, 35, at the same checkpoint on Monday, 30th March, while conveying 24.5 kg of skunk from the Seme border to Lagos.
In Adamawa state, NDLEA officers on patrol along Namtari Road, Yola South, on Monday, 30th March, intercepted a trailer marked RUW 947 XA transporting 48,000 pills of tramadol. The truck driver, Abdulaziz Ismail Korede, was arrested while a follow-up operation led to the arrest of the recipient, Idris Adamu.
While 60-year-old Idiatu Oladejo was arrested with 15 kg of skunk in Isale Osun, Osogbo, Osun State, on Wednesday, 1st April, NDLEA operatives acting on credible intelligence raided the Itaogbolu forest, Akure, Ondo State, where they recovered 351 kilograms of skunk and its seeds. No fewer than 28,600 capsules of tramadol were seized from 66-year-old Aminu Usman Gembu when he was arrested at Aliade, Benue State, on Wednesday, 1st April.
In Edo state, a suspect, Roland Owie, 37, was arrested on Monday, 30th March, following the raid of his warehouse at Egbanke community, Orhionmwon LGA, where 1,378 kilograms of skunk were recovered.
A notorious drug dealer, 40-year-old Ayantola Omodunmomi (a.k.a. Iya Elle), was arrested on Wednesday, 1st April, in the Eleta area of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. Her arrest follows intelligence and surveillance on how she uses her 11-year-old daughter, Anjola, to deliver illicit drugs to her customers. At the time of her arrest, 45.6 kg of skunk was recovered from her warehouse.
The War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) social advocacy activities by NDLEA Commands equally continued across the country in the past week. Some of them include WADA sensitization lectures delivered to students and staff of Okere Grammar School, Saki, Oyo; Shasha Comprehensive High School, Alimosho, Lagos; Ma’ahad Ahmad Turaki Islamiyya, Sabon Gari, Kano; Ezi-Awka Community Secondary School, Awka, Anambra; and Madrasatul Ihsan, Area One Tsafe, Zamfara State, among others.
While commending the officers and men of MMIA, Seme, Borno, Oyo, Ondo, Osun, Edo, Adamawa, and Benue Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures of the past week, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), also praised their counterparts in all the commands across the country for pursuing a fair balance between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.
“These successful operations are a testament to the agency’s evolving intelligence capabilities and our unwavering commitment to choking the supply lines of drug cartels. Whether they hide behind legitimate businesses, religious titles, or complex concealment methods, we will find them”, Marwa stated.
