According to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), its agents have dismantled two significant transnational drug trafficking organizations and seized cocaine and opiates valued at billions of naira.

The development, according to the agency, follows months of intelligence collection and meticulous surveillance by its agents.

Six cartel bosses were detained around the nation, according to the NDLEA.

Femi Babafemi, Director, Media & Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters Abuja, made this announcement on Sunday.

According to Babafemi, the syndicates, which include Cameroonian citizens and Nigerians from Mubi, Adamawa state; Onitsha, Anambra state; and Lagos state, were accused of being key drug suppliers to terrorist organizations in both Cameroon and Nigeria.

Ibrahim Bawuro, Najib Ibrahim, Ibrahim Umar, Nelson Udechukwu Anayo, Ezeh Amaechi Martin, and Adejumo Elijah Ishola are among the syndicate leaders he mentioned as having been arrested thus far.

According to information obtained, Ibrahim Bawuro and Ibrahim Najib frequently obtained psychoactive substances, such as tramadol, from Nelson Udechukwu Anayo, a well-known drug dealer in Onitsha. They then packed and hidden the drugs in cars on the property of Udechukwu’s associate, Ezeh Amaechi Martin.

“In specially built false compartments of vehicles, which travel from the East to the North at night, Ibrahim Bawuro and Ibrahim Najib will then transport the drugs from Onitsha to Yola and then to other parts of the North and Cameroon.”

Ibrahim Bawuro, Najib Ibrahim, Ibrahim Umar, Nelson Udechukwu Anayo, Ezeh Amaechi Martin, and Adejumo Elijah Ishola are among the syndicate leaders he mentioned as having been arrested thus far.

According to information obtained, Ibrahim Bawuro and Ibrahim Najib frequently obtained psychoactive substances, such as tramadol, from Nelson Udechukwu Anayo, a well-known drug dealer in Onitsha. They then packed and hidden the drugs in cars on the property of Udechukwu’s associate, Ezeh Amaechi Martin.

“In specially built false compartments of vehicles, which travel from the East to the North at night, Ibrahim Bawuro and Ibrahim Najib will then transport the drugs from Onitsha to Yola and then to other parts of the North and Cameroon.”

Bawuro and Najib were apprehended in Taraba on October 8, 2024, after being pursued from Onitsha, where they had gone to purchase another consignment, on October 7. Additionally, 276,500 tramadol pills were found in a Toyota Avensis saloon car with the license plate DKA 57 TT, which they had abandoned on the Jalingo-Yola expressway when they realized NDLEA agents were pursuing them.

Following that, follow-up operations were conducted in the states of Delta and Anambra, where NDLEA Directorate of Intelligence agents apprehended Ezeh Amaechi Martin and Udechukwu Nelson Anayo. They coordinated the entire operation with their counterparts in Taraba, Adamawa, Delta, and Anambra.

On Tuesday, November 5th, Adejumo Elijah Ishola, 37, a head of another gang, was apprehended by agents from the Agency’s special operation team at the Seme border in Lagos while traveling from Ghana with 600 grams of synthetic cannabis and 3.3 kilograms of cocaine. This came after months of monitoring and intelligence on his illegal cross-border operations, Babafemi said.

In the meantime, on Wednesday, November 6, NDLEA agents in Apapa harbor, Lagos, seized 31,750,000 pills of the restricted opioid Voltron, which contains 240 mg. The pills were wrapped and hidden in a container that was imported from India as 100 mg tablets of diclofenac sodium.

The finding was made during a combined inspection of the cargo by Customs Service and other security agency personnel, according to NDLEA.

The anti-drug agency also revealed that on Tuesday, November 5, its agents stopped a 700-gram shipment of Loud, a potent cannabis strain, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, import shed Ikeja, Lagos, NDLEA officials.

Babafemi, who made the announcement, claimed that Olu Marshal, a software engineer, who arrived to pick up the item was arrested right away and that various drug paraphernalia, including a cannabis crusher, was found during a follow-up search of his Lekki residence.

He also stated that attempt by another suspect, Orji Ogbonna Nnaorji to send 32.50kg bottles of codeine syrup and 5.70kg cannabis to London, UK, concealed in tiger nuts cargo through the export shed of the Lagos airport was frustrated by NDLEA operatives on Friday 8th November. A follow up operation led to the arrest of Orji at his warehouse in Ajao estate, Lagos.

“In Kwara state, not less than 162,800 pills of opioids were seized by NDLEA operatives from four suspects during interdiction operations in parts of the state. While 112,200 tablets of tramadol were recovered from Wahab Alao Saliu, 18,900 tablets of same opioid were recovered from Dalha Musa both at Eiyenkorin area of Ilorin; 29,000 pills of tramadol, 200 ampoules of diazepam and 99 bottles of codeine syrup seized from Ahmed Isiaka, just as 2,500 tabs of tramadol were seized from Ahmed Garba, both at Bode Saadu in Moro local government area of the state on Friday 8th November.

“In Abuja, NDLEA operatives in the Federal Capital Territory on Thursday 7th November intercepted a truck along Abaji- Kwali road with 755.50kg cannabis concealed under empty cartons of noodles. The truck driver, Lukman Rasheed, 41, claimed that bags of the psychoactive substance were loaded into the trailer in Ogbese, Ondo state after departing Lagos with only empty cartons of noodles.

“A suspect, Yusuf Abubakar, 43, was arrested by operatives on Monday 4th November at Ibi, Taraba state while conveying to Kano 361 compressed blocks of cannabis weighing 156.95kg in a commercial bus marked WKR 772 XA. Not less than 245 blocks of same substance with a total weight of 121kg were recovered by NDLEA officers on patrol along Wukari – Ibi road on Thursday 7th November.

“Two suspects: Hamza Yakubu, 30, and Abdulra’uf Danjuma, 23, were on Wednesday 6th November arrested at Gidan Manjagab area of Jos, Plateau state with 113 blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 141kg, while a Chadian, Hassan Muhammad Ali, 31, was nabbed on Tuesday 5th November at Gadar Tamburawa, Zaria-Kano road, Kano, with 3,000 pills of tramadol 225mg.

“While a suspect Ibrahim Adamu was arrested at Jere area of Kaduna state with 35 sacks of cannabis sativa weighing 338.8 kilograms, NDLEA operatives in Edo state on Friday 8th November recovered 1,078kg cannabis at Okhuokhuo – Isi forest and 228kg of same substance at Sabo- Auchi.

“In Ondo state, four suspects: Friday Daniel, Patrick Felix, Samuel Agada and Igwe Chukwuka were arrested at Emure Ile with 672kg cannabis sativa, while 513kg of same substance was seized at Gbodo camp, Ikun Akoko and a total of 4, 908kg cannabis recovered from a suspect Musibau Kosama at Alabi Yellow, Ijoka area of Akure on Wednesday 6th November,” the statement added.

In response to the development, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, praised the officers and men of the Agency’s DI, SIU, Apapa, MMIA, FCT, Taraba, Kwara, Plateau, Kano, Kaduna, Edo, and Ondo Commands for the arrests and seizures that occurred during the previous week.

Additionally, Marwa commended their fellow citizens in every command nationwide for stepping up the WADA advocacy and sensitization lectures in every region within their purview.