NDLEA Reports N3.4bn Drug Seizures in Multi-State Operations
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency says it intercepted more than 1.3 million pills of tramadol and other opioids and about 6,000 kilograms of cannabis in operations across seven states and the Federal Capital Territory.
NDLEA says the operations covered Lagos, Edo, Niger, Delta, Ondo, Gombe and Imo states, as well as the FCT.
The agency put the combined street value of the seizures at more than N3.4 billion.
That figure is an NDLEA estimate and has not been independently audited.
Tin-Can seizure valued at N1.811bn
One of the largest seizures reported by the agency was at Tin-Can Island Port in Lagos.
NDLEA says officers, working with Customs and other security agencies, examined a 40-foot container from Montreal, Canada, and found 1,200 parcels of Canadian Loud weighing 603.75kg.
The agency says the cannabis was concealed in 31 jumbo bags loaded into two Toyota Sienna vehicles.
NDLEA valued the consignment at N1.811 billion.
Arrests reported in Delta and Edo
In Delta State, NDLEA says it arrested Innocent Ekpe, 49, and Nduka Joseph, 39, along the Benin-Onitsha Expressway and recovered 292.48kg of skunk from a Toyota Sienna.
The agency also alleges that Ekpe used a forged police identity card and presented himself as a Deputy Superintendent of Police to avoid scrutiny at checkpoints.
In Edo State, NDLEA says officers arrested Matthew Ossai, 45, at an auto-repair workshop on Agbor Road in Benin City.
The agency reported recovering 48kg of Canadian Loud and 152 grams of methamphetamine and alleges that the workshop was being used to store illicit drugs.
Those are agency allegations. The arrests do not amount to convictions, and the public record reviewed for this story does not establish that the named individuals have been found guilty in court.
Opioid seizures reported in FCT and Gombe
On the Abaji-Abuja highway, NDLEA says officers arrested two people and recovered more than 1.1 million assorted tramadol tablets and capsules, along with codeine syrup, methamphetamine and Exol tablets.
The agency says the consignment was being moved from Onitsha in Anambra State towards Mararaba in Nasarawa State.
In Gombe, NDLEA reported recovering 154,480 tramadol capsules from two people arrested separately in the Barunde area and Gombe main market.
Niger operation includes firearms recovery
In Niger State, NDLEA says three people were arrested during a patrol along the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway at Chachi in Tafa LGA.
The agency reported recovering two locally fabricated AK-47 rifles, a locally made pistol and ammunition from a travel bag.
No conviction arising from that recovery is established in the agency statement.
Lagos, Imo and Ondo add to seizure totals
NDLEA says other operations contributed to the overall figures.
In Lagos, the agency reported:
- 48,900 tramadol pills recovered in Surulere;
- 59kg of cannabis intercepted at a logistics company;
- and 998.38kg of nitrous oxide gas recovered in an Apongbon operation.
In Imo State, NDLEA reported an arrest along the Owerri-Onitsha Road involving 43.85kg of skunk.
In Ondo State, the agency says four people were arrested during the destruction of a two-hectare cannabis farm in Ita-Ogbolu forest.
NDLEA says about 5,000kg of cannabis was destroyed there, while another 48kg was retained as exhibit material.
Separate operations, separate cases
Although NDLEA announced the operations together, they do not amount to one criminal case.
They involve different states, suspects, substances and circumstances.
The combined N3.4bn figure is also an agency estimate across multiple seizures rather than the value of one consignment.
Each arrest and seizure must therefore be assessed on its own evidence.
What remains unresolved
NDLEA has reported the seizures and arrests, but several important questions remain open:
- which suspects have been formally charged;
- which cases have reached court;
- whether forensic testing has confirmed every reported substance;
- how the agency calculates its street-value estimates;
- and what the eventual court outcomes will be.
The central accountability test is whether the announced seizures produce clear, traceable prosecutions backed by evidence that can withstand court scrutiny.
For now, the established position is that NDLEA says its multi-state operations yielded more than 1.3 million opioid pills and about 6,000kg of cannabis, with an agency-estimated street value above N3.4bn. Individual criminal liability remains for the courts to determine.