A nationwide operation by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has record major success as multiple arrests were made as well as massive grab of illicit drugs and controlled substances was achieved.
NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi disclosed in a statement on Sunday, March 22, 2026 in Abuja that at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, the agency intercepted illicit substances – methamphetamine and opioids, which he said were drugs bound for countries in Europe.
He said that the illicit substances were concealed in carton walls, winter jackets and body cream containers, with two of the consignments bound for Italy.
Babafemi said that the desperate attempt by members of the Drug Trafficking Organisations (DTOs) to move the consignments was foiled on Friday, March 20, while two suspects were arrested.
“One of them, a 37-year-old, was going to Rome, Italy, on Friday, March 20, when he was intercepted while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight.”
“The suspect was with 2,698 pills of tramadol 225mg, concealed in containers of skin light body cream, all packed in the suspect’s luggage.”
“In his statement, the suspect, who is a resident of Milan, confirmed that he was to be paid a negotiated fee in Euros if he had succeeded in trafficking the consignment to Italy,” Babafemi said.
In another drug bust, the NDLEA operatives at the departure hall of the Lagos airport on Wednesday, March 18, intercepted a passenger who was attempting to board a Lufthansa Airlines flight to Milan, Italy.
Babafemi said that upon a thorough search of his luggage, no fewer than 23,150 pills of tramadol 225mg, 4,000 tablets of tapentadol 250mg and 1,320 pills of tramadol 100mg, all concealed in two large winter jackets, were recovered from him.
According to him, the total number of opioids was 28,470 pills, adding that “the 38-year-old suspect is also a resident of Milan”.
Meanwhile, at a courier firm in Lagos, NDLEA officials on Monday, March 16, also intercepted two parcels of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis, weighing 1kg, hidden in a carton shipped to Lagos from the U.S.
Babafemi further said that operatives of NDLEA thwarted an attempt to export 158 grammes of methamphetamine concealed in the walls of a carton bound for New Zealand.
Similarly, he stated that not less than 21,737 bottles of codeine-based syrup were recovered from a store at Otto, Ijora area of Lagos, when operatives of the agency raided the area on Wednesday, March 18.
Babafemi said that two suspects were also arrested on the same day on the 3rd Mainland Bridge, conveying 8,380 bottles of the same substance.
He also said operatives of the NDLEA, on Wednesday, March 18, in Kano, arrested a suspect with 102.5kg of skunk at Dan-Tsalle, while another suspect was nabbed on the same day at Naibawa Gabas, with 95.5kg of the same psychoactive substance.
Babafemi also said not less than 586,000 pills of tramadol and Exol-5 were recovered by the NDLEA operatives from a suspect on the Kaduna-Zaria highway, Kaduna, on Tuesday, March 17.
He said that 7,290 tablets of tramadol 225mg were also seized from another suspect at the same location on Friday, March 20.
“Acting on credible intelligence, the NDLEA operatives in Taraba on Tuesday, March 17, intercepted a suspect along the Takum-Jalingo highway, while conveying 77,660 capsules of tramadol to Gombe.”
“Similarly, in Adamawa state, no fewer than six suspects were arrested in connection with the seizure of 82.8kg of tramadol in a truck in Yola, on Tuesday, March 17.”
“Suspects who are joint owners of the consignment were all arrested in swift follow-up operations,” he said.
Speaking further, Babafemi said the agency’s operatives in Abuja on Wednesday, March 18, intercepted a commercial bus on the Gwagwalada expressway in the FCT.
“A thorough search of the vehicle led to the recovery of 91,840 pills of tramadol, hidden in its body compartments.”
“The bus driver was promptly taken into custody,” he said.
In the same vein, on Monday, March 16, 2026, 97.5kg of skunk was recovered from the home of a suspect in Ojah, Akoko-Edo Local Government Area (LGA) in Edo, the NDLEA spokesperson said.
Babafemi also said that a suspect was apprehended on Tuesday, March 17, at Oke-Oyan, Ibarapa LGA, with 71.2kg of skunk, which he smuggled into Nigeria from the Benin Republic, via the Oyan river.
He said that commands and formations of the agency across the country have continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, work places and communities in the past week.
These include: WADA sensitisation lecture to students and staff of Girls High School, Abakaliki, Ebonyi; New State High School, Mushin, Lagos and Cornerstone Secondary School, Sankwala, in Cross River.
Others are Community Secondary School, Ngwo-Uno, Udi, Enugu and St. John’s Academy, Ipokia LGA, Ogun state, among others.
Babafemi quoted the NDLEA Chairman, retired Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa commended the officers and men of the MMIA, DOGI, Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Edo, Oyo, FCT, Taraba, and Adamawa Commands, for the arrests and seizures.
Marwa enjoined them and their colleagues across the country to continue with the ongoing balanced approach to the drug control efforts of the agency.