NDLEA Dismantles Trans-border Drug Cartel, Arrests Four Members in Anambra and Nasarawa

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have successfully dismantled a trans-border drug trafficking syndicate, arresting four of its members in a series of intelligence-driven operations. During these operations, they recovered multi-million-naira worth of tramadol pills hidden in specially constructed compartments within the bumpers and false bottoms of Sienna buses traveling to border towns.

Femi Babafemi, Director of Media & Advocacy at the NDLEA Headquarters, confirmed the bust in a statement released on Sunday. He detailed that the operation followed weeks of intelligence gathering and surveillance by the agency’s Directorate of Intelligence. On Tuesday, January 27, 2025, at 6 a.m., operatives intercepted a Sienna bus marked ABJ 452 HG at the Nasarawa-Toto Road in Keffi, Nasarawa State.

Two suspects—Zahradeen Adamu, 27, and Abubakar Usman, 44—were arrested as they traveled from Onitsha, Anambra State, en route to Yola, Adamawa State. A second Sienna bus, driven by Abba Usman, 48, was also intercepted.

Upon searching the two vehicles, operatives discovered specially constructed steel compartments hidden behind the back bumper and in the spare tire compartments of the vehicles, concealing a total of 190,960 tramadol pills.

Further investigation revealed that Kingsley Mbaeri, an Onitsha-based drug dealer, was the supplier of the seized tramadol. A follow-up operation led to Mbaeri’s arrest at his home on Uga Street in Onitsha on January 29. Two vehicles— a Toyota Corolla (FGG 948 MF) and a Toyota Sienna (GWA 23 HH)—were also seized from his property.

In another operation, NDLEA operatives intercepted a commercial bus coming from Onitsha at the Abaji checkpoint in the FCT on February 4. A passenger, Chimezie Henry Ojingwa, 32, was found carrying motor spare parts in a black bag. Upon searching, 404.47 grams of methamphetamine, 506.49 grams of “Loud” (a synthetic strain of cannabis), and 262.32 grams of dimethyl sulfone (a precursor for methamphetamine) were recovered.

In Cross River State, NDLEA operatives on patrol intercepted 170,000 tramadol pills in a truck driven by Paul Chukwudi, 31, along the Ogoja-Abakaliki Road on February 14. Meanwhile, operatives at the Apapa seaport in Lagos recovered 85,400 bottles of codeine-based syrup from a container imported from India on February 11.

Other significant arrests include two suspects, Halilu Isa and Gambo Umaru, apprehended with 72 kg of compressed skunk (a type of cannabis) along Bama Road in Maiduguri, Borno State, on February 14. In Ekiti State, three suspects—Bala Muhammed, 57; Yahaya Adamu, 55; and Abdullahi Shehu, 30—were arrested on February 11 in a raid at a notorious drug joint in Ikole-Ekiti, where 83 kg of skunk was seized.

In Lagos, 28-year-old Samiat Olabisi Yussuf was arrested on February 15 during a raid at her Lekki home. Authorities recovered 169.5 liters of nitrous oxide, commonly known as “laughing gas,” along with 111 grams of Loud.

Additionally, operatives in Taraba State seized 132.84 kg of skunk from two suspects, Ibrahim Usman, 40, and Solomon James, 40. Usman was arrested in Wukari with 88 kg of Arizona and Ghana Loud, while James was apprehended in Takanaba, Sabongari, Jalingo LGA, with 44.84 kg of the same substance.

Across the nation, NDLEA Commands continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) program, conducting sensitization lectures and advocacy visits to schools, workplaces, religious institutions, and traditional palaces. Notable engagements included lectures at Government Technical College in Oku, Akwa Ibom, Future Leaders Academy in Kishi, Oyo State, and Jesuit College in Agbado Ekiti, Ekiti State, among others.

Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, commended the officers and operatives across the agency’s commands for their success in recent arrests and seizures. He also praised their efforts in intensifying the WADA sensitization campaigns and advocacy work in their areas of responsibility.