July 06, (THEWILL) — Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted cocaine concealed in female lipsticks and property title documents in two separate courier consignments destined for the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia, respectively.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by the agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, the seizures were made by NDLEA officers from the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) at a logistics company in Lagos on Thursday, July 3, 2025.
The agency recovered 420 grams of cocaine ingeniously concealed in 84 pieces of female lipsticks bound for the UK, and another 280 grams of the same substance hidden inside a property title document (Certificate of Occupancy) destined for Saudi Arabia.
In a related development, a notorious drug kingpin, Ajetsibo Emami, popularly known as “Warri Kinsman,” was arrested on Saturday, June 28, in Ikeja, Lagos.
His arrest followed a three-day operation that led to the arrest of three of his associates and the seizure of 681 pouches of Canadian Loud (a potent cannabis strain) weighing 414.2kg concealed in 24 jumbo bags.
NDLEA said Emami had been under surveillance following credible intelligence on his plans to distribute the shipment from the Lekki area of Lagos across the country.
In another operation, the NDLEA arrested a couple, Ajah Johnson Uchenna and his wife Rosemary, alongside their two daughters, Stella and Ngozi, and a family friend, Okoro Elijah, for running a major drug distribution network in Lagos.
Initially arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS) in Ojo with 277.5kg of skunk, further investigation led NDLEA operatives to recover an additional 231kg of the same substance from their residence on July 1.
At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, on Wednesday, July 2, operatives arrested a frequent flyer, Aburemi Hysent, attempting to smuggle 7,660 pills of Tramadol 225mg and 200mg hidden in food items en route to Italy.
He confessed to being promised €800 for the delivery.
In another airport operation on July 4, NDLEA intercepted 52 counterfeit travellers’ cheques worth AUD 17.7 million (Australian dollars), concealed in children’s books and bound for Malaysia via Istanbul on a Turkish Airlines flight. .
A freight agent, Bolarinwa Saheed, was arrested in connection with the consignment and handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for further investigation.
At the Seme border in Badagry, 718 large balls of skunk weighing 359kg were recovered on July 5. On the Okene-Lokoja highway, operatives intercepted 10,000 pills of Tramadol 225mg and Co-codamol, along with 1.05kg of Colorado (a synthetic cannabis), leading to the arrest of three suspects at Jabi Park, Abuja.
In Osun State, operatives arrested two suspects—Agunbiade Folusho, 40, and Suleiman Dasola, 28—with 13,901 pills and ampoules of opioids. In Ile-Ife, Adebayo Adewale, 50, was arrested at a patent medicine store with 48,205 pills of opioids.
A separate raid at a vulcanizer workshop in Osogbo on July 1 led to the arrest of three men with tramadol, codeine-based syrup, and pentazocine injection.
Also in Osun, a major raid on cannabis farmland in Ikaka, Oke-Ila forest resulted in the destruction of 24,175kg of skunk cultivated on 9.67 hectares. Seven suspects were arrested in connection with the plantation.
In Borno, 167kg of skunk was recovered in Gamboru-Ngala, while 452kg was seized at Gadar Tamburawa along the Zaria-Kano road with two suspects arrested. In Abuja, 11,000 Tramadol pills were seized from one Sule Ibrahim Sadiq, while in Sokoto, 62-year-old Joseph Onungene was arrested with 4,800 pills.
In Kebbi, NDLEA raided a base in Bakin Kasuwa, Yauri, seizing 312kg of skunk and 10,000 diazepam tablets. Two suspects, Chigbo Okolo, 52, and Ishaku Musa, 28, were nabbed in Taraba with nearly 50,000 tramadol capsules.
In Edo State, operatives arrested a wanted suspect, Alaba Monday, in Owan West LGA with 115kg of processed skunk, while three others were arrested in another cannabis farm measuring over two hectares.
A 78-year-old man, Mike Abeng, was arrested in Cross River State with 14.49kg of skunk and tramadol. Others arrested in the operation include Oyom Akam, 50; Sylvester Odem, 40; and Moses Ayo, 50.
The agency’s anti-drug advocacy campaign, War Against Drug Abuse (WADA), continued across the country with sensitisation programmes in Enugu, Lagos, Katsina, and Borno.
Commending the efforts of officers across multiple states and units, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd), praised their commitment to balancing drug supply reduction with drug demand reduction across Nigeria.
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