The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted parcels of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, concealed in microwaves imported from Thailand and cocaine hidden in ladies’ lipsticks destined for Guinea at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
The Loud consignment, part of a cargo arriving in two tranches via Ethiopian Airlines from Bangkok, Thailand, through Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was intercepted on Monday, July 7, 2025. According to a statement by NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, a thorough search based on credible intelligence uncovered 23 parcels of Loud weighing 11.3kg hidden in new microwaves. A suspect, Ezenwegbu Chike, was arrested in connection with the seizure.
This seizure follows another incident where NDLEA operatives at the Lagos airport’s export shed intercepted 400 grams of cocaine and phenacetine, a cutting agent, concealed in ladies’ lipsticks within a cargo containing hair attachments, face powder, and other items bound for Malabo, Guinea. This comes barely a week after 420 grams of cocaine, factory-fitted in 84 lipsticks heading to the UK, were seized at a courier company in Lagos. A businessman, Ezeikwelume Prince Afam, from the Trade Fair Complex, Ojo, Lagos, was arrested on Friday, July 11, in connection with the Guinea-bound seizure.
In a significant breakthrough, NDLEA’s Special Operations Unit arrested a notorious drug kingpin, Okechukwu Izugha (a.k.a. Okey Omeogo), in Lagos on Wednesday, July 9, after he evaded capture for 12 months. Izugha was nabbed at his wife’s shop in Ijesha Market. He came under NDLEA’s radar on August 7, 2024, when 9kg of cocaine was recovered from a suspect, Obiora Joseph Agudosi, at a motor park in Orile, Lagos, en route to the southeast. Izugha was identified as the owner of the consignment. His wife, Maureen Izugha, was arrested on January 21, 2025, with 500 grams of cocaine at her beverage store in Ijesha Market, later convicted and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment. Unaware that NDLEA was still tracking him, Izugha emerged from hiding and was promptly apprehended.
In Edo State, NDLEA operatives destroyed 28,054.053 kilograms of skunk, a local cannabis strain, across three farms spanning over 11 hectares in Ewere Uzebba forest, Owan West LGA, on Tuesday, July 8. An additional 82kg of processed cannabis was recovered. The operatives faced a gun attack from armed cartel members while exiting the forest but repelled it without casualties, though one operational vehicle was damaged by bullets.
In Lagos, NDLEA recovered 1,400 compressed blocks of Ghana Loud, weighing 700kg, and a Ford delivery truck (registration JJJ 698 YJ) at Okun-Ajah Beach. Two suspects, Innocent Ejidiobo and Friday Paul, were arrested along Ajah-Epe Expressway on Friday, July 11, with 26kg of Ghana Loud, 123 grams of methamphetamine, 45 grams of Molly, and their delivery van (registration AJK 191 LG).
In Borno State, NDLEA arrested Godwin Chimaobi Nwaobi, 42, on Saturday, July 12, with 18,759 ampoules of pentazocine, tramadol, and Rohypnol at Njimtilo, Maiduguri. This followed the seizure of 10,000 tramadol pills from Abdulrahman Bello Ahmadu, 34, on Wednesday, July 9. In Gombe State, 116,226 pills of tramadol and D-5 were recovered from five suspects—Hafiz Bello, 22; Isah Suleman, 48; Kabiru Muhammed, 30; Abdullahi Adamu, 30; and Abel Murna, 25—at Gombe Main Market and along Gombe-Kano Road on July 8 and 12.
In Kogi State, Sabiu Bala was arrested on Thursday, July 10, along the Okene-Lokoja Expressway with 316.6kg of skunk. In Kaduna State, Haladu Suleiman, 38, was nabbed with 58.805kg of skunk in Gubuchi, Ikara LGA. In Taraba State, three suspects—Auwal Ibrahim, 30; Lukman Ibrahim, 18; and Hamza Adamu, 25—were arrested on Saturday, July 12, at Lanka Viri checkpoint with 577,890 opioid pills and 1.16kg of skunk concealed in a petrol tanker’s tyre compartment (registration MUB 334 YH), following credible intelligence from July 8. In Kano State, Shamsudini Abdullahi, 35; Adamu Abdullahi, 21; and Magaji Rabo, 26, were arrested with 48.1kg of skunk at Janguza Barracks on Wednesday, July 9.
NDLEA’s War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy continued with sensitization lectures at institutions like Word of Promise High School, Calabar; Government Girls Arabic Senior Secondary School, Indabo Wudil, Kano; Community Secondary School, Umundu, Enugu; Okemagba Senior High School, Epe, Lagos; Bishop Gideon Otubelu Memorial College, Ukpo, Anambra; and among traditional rulers in Bende, Abia State.
NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the MMIA, Special Operations Unit, Edo, Lagos, Taraba, Kano, Kogi, Gombe, Borno, and Kaduna Commands for their arrests and seizures, praising their balanced approach to drug supply and demand reduction efforts.
The sun
