NDLEA ARRESTS CONVICTED TRAFFICKER POSING AS TEA SELLER OVER SAUDI-BOUND COCAINE SHIPMENT

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a convicted cocaine trafficker who allegedly disguised himself as a herbal tea businessman while masterminding illicit drug shipments, including a 1.2kg cocaine consignment destined for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, saying the arrest followed intelligence-led operations after the cocaine shipment was intercepted at a courier company in Lagos on July 31, 2026.

The suspect, identified as 34-year-old Dunu Bethel Ebubechukwu, was arrested during a sting operation at Article Market, opposite Trade Fair Market, in the Ojo area of Lagos, on September 4, while allegedly posing as a herbal tea businessman.

Babafemi said Ebubechukwu admitted to masterminding some illicit drug shipments in the past and reportedly discarded his telephone SIM card after learning that his latest consignment had been intercepted.

The NDLEA spokesperson said the suspect was not new to the agency, having first been arrested in 2011 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos after allegedly ingesting 900g of cocaine and 130g of heroin while attempting to travel to Austria.

He was subsequently prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced to five years in prison. Babafemi said the suspect later changed his name to Dunu Bethel Ebubechukwu and allegedly returned to the illicit drug trade.

A search of his residence in Ejigbo, Lagos, reportedly led to the recovery of phone chargers similar to those allegedly used to conceal the intercepted cocaine shipment. The internal components of the chargers had reportedly been removed to create space for drugs.

The arrest was part of a wider coordinated crackdown by the NDLEA across several states, during which operatives intercepted large consignments of illicit drugs and uncovered concealed compartments allegedly used for drug trafficking.

At the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives recovered 966,200 tablets of tramadol 225mg, valued at more than ₦1.1bn, concealed among thrift trousers in a 21-carton shipment from Pakistan.

The agency also recovered 57.80kg of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis valued at more than ₦173m, hidden inside cartons of disposable hand gloves in a shipment from Singapore.

The consignment had reportedly remained unclaimed for weeks before a joint examination involving NDLEA officers, Customs and other security agencies on September 3.

In Ondo State, NDLEA operatives pursued a 20,000-litre fuel tanker along the Akoko/Lokoja Expressway after its driver allegedly refused to stop.

The driver reportedly abandoned the tanker at a church premises in Ugbe Akoko and fled into the bush.

A search of the tanker allegedly uncovered a concealed compartment containing 165 bags of cannabis weighing 2,145kg, alongside its legitimate fuel cargo reportedly destined for Jos, Plateau State.

At Tincan Port in Lagos, NDLEA operatives intercepted 598.08kg, comprising 890 packets, of cannabis-infused cookies and gummies inside a 40-foot container.

The seizure was linked to three suspects, Yashim Dauji, Larry Ifeanyi and Joseph Moji, who had reportedly been arrested at the port about a month earlier over the seizure of 842.54kg of cannabis-laced cookies.

In Adamawa State, NDLEA operatives recovered 864,000 opioid pills, particularly tramadol, from a residence linked to a fleeing suspect, Patrick KC Frank, in the Damilu and Jambutu areas of Jimeta, Yola North Local Government Area.

The agency said Frank allegedly rammed his Honda Civic into an NDLEA patrol vehicle before escaping.

In Michika, Adamawa State, a 35-year-old suspected methamphetamine supplier, Calistus Ebubechukwu, was arrested with 2kg of the substance.

NDLEA operatives also intercepted Attahiru Hussaini at the Namtari checkpoint in Mubi with tramadol and other opioids allegedly concealed in a Ford Galaxy bus loaded with soap.

The agency reported additional seizures and arrests in Lagos, Kogi, Taraba, Kaduna, Bauchi, Ekiti and Enugu states involving cannabis, cocaine, tramadol, codeine syrup, rohypnol, methamphetamine and other controlled substances.

In Ekiti State, two suspects were arrested after NDLEA operatives uncovered and destroyed a four-hectare cannabis farm in the Efon-Alaaye forest, recovering 117kg of already-harvested cannabis.

In Enugu State, a 20-year-old suspect, Obinna David, was also arrested at Ugbema Junction with 40,590 capsules of tramadol.

The NDLEA said its commands across the country also continued their War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation campaigns in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities.

The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended the agency’s officers for what he described as professionalism and intelligence-driven operations.

Marwa urged personnel to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control and warned traffickers that attempts to evade detection by adopting new identities or operating under legitimate business fronts would not prevent them from being tracked down.