By Lizzy Chirkpi
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted a consignment of Canadian Loud cannabis valued at over N12.3 billion at the Apapa Port in Lagos and arrested a 38-year-old businesswoman attempting to smuggle 7.5 kilograms of cocaine to China through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja.
The agency said the woman, identified as Iwebema Ogechi Peace, was arrested at the departure hall of Terminal 2 of the airport while preparing to board a Qatar Airways flight to Beijing.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said the arrest followed credible intelligence that led operatives to search the suspect’s luggage.
According to him, officers discovered four large parcels of cocaine weighing 7.5 kilograms concealed in a professionally constructed false bottom of her suitcase.
Babafemi said the suspect told investigators that she regularly travelled to China to purchase goods for resale in Nigeria.
In what is one of the agency’s largest cannabis seizures in recent months, NDLEA operatives, working with other security agencies, also recovered 4,959 kilograms of Canadian Loud hidden inside a 40-foot container conveying a Ford vehicle and a Nissan vehicle through the Apapa Port.
The illicit consignment, with an estimated street value of N12.397 billion, had reportedly been under surveillance for more than four weeks before it arrived in Nigeria.
“The large illicit drug consignment came under NDLEA tracking and monitoring system since 25th April 2026 when it arrived Toronto, Canada via truck, Montreal via rail on 29th April, Tanger Med Morocco on 11th May before arriving Nigeria,” Babafemi stated.
The anti-narcotics agency also announced the dismantling of a drug trafficking syndicate accused of planting illicit drugs in the luggage of unsuspecting passengers at motor parks.
Babafemi said the operation began after operatives in the Federal Capital Territory intercepted a Sienna bus travelling from Nnewi, Anambra State, to Abuja and recovered a package containing 467.7 grams of suspected methamphetamine concealed inside a passenger’s luggage.
The female passenger reportedly denied ownership of the package, prompting investigators to trace the consignment to bus loaders in Nnewi.
“The investigation revealed that one of the loaders planted the drug package in the woman’s bag on the instruction of the driver, Abdurrazak Isah, who later identified one of his passengers, Onyebuchi Victor Okoye, as the actual owner of the drugs,” he said.
In another operation, NDLEA operatives arrested 57-year-old Ikechukwu Uwakwe at the Iddo Motor Park in Lagos with 209.5 kilograms of Scottish Loud allegedly destined for Enugu State.
Similarly, officers intercepted a truck on the Mile 2 Bridge in Lagos and arrested two Beninese nationals, Hossou Tito Julien, 30, and Mancellim Dossou, 19, alongside Nigerian suspect Jackson ThankGod.
According to Babafemi, operatives recovered 558,900 pills of Tramadol 250mg concealed in a fabricated compartment of the truck, which was transporting the drugs from Togo through the Benin Republic into Nigeria.
The agency also arrested Lucky Abonga and Osas Azamobo along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway while transporting 118 kilograms of skunk concealed among legitimate goods bound for Onitsha.
In Amukoko, Lagos, operatives apprehended Helen Ese Idiji, 40, and Rashidat Sa’adullah, 53, recovering 28.8 kilograms of skunk during the operation.
“Investigation revealed that the principal suspect, Helen, stores her illicit consignments with the second suspect, Rashidat, from where she distributes to her customers,” Babafemi said.
Beyond enforcement operations, Babafemi said the agency sustained its nationwide War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy campaign with sensitisation programmes held in schools and communities across Yobe, Lagos, Kano, Kogi and Enugu states.
He added that NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers involved in the operations for combining aggressive drug supply reduction efforts with public awareness campaigns, urging them to remain resolute in the fight against drug trafficking nationwide.