Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have arrested an Indian businessman, Gupta Ravi Kumar, and three Nigerian nationals accomplices in connection with the interception of 2,248,000 pills of tramadol (200mg/225mg) at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
The shipment, disguised as multivitamins in 114 cartons and declared from Delhi, India, arrived at the Lagos import shed on Monday, 8 September, on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
NDLEA, in a statement issued on Sunday by the Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said the consignment is estimated at N3.99 billion.
Babafemi said operatives initially placed the goods under surveillance before intercepting a clearing agent and two drivers attempting to move the cargo in two trucks on Thursday, 11 September.
“The tramadol shipment worth N3,990,000,000 in street value was imported from Delhi, India, disguised as multivitamins in 114 cartons, and arrived at the import shed of the Lagos airport on an Ethiopian Airlines flight on Monday, 8 September 2025,” the statement read.
Babafemi added that a follow-up operation the next day led to the arrest of Gupta when he attempted to take delivery of the consignment.
He explained the operation was part of a nationwide crackdown by NDLEA over the past week.
At the same airport’s Terminal 2 departure gate on September 7, officers intercepted passenger Onyeganochi Stanley Ifeanyi en route to Doha on Qatar Airways.
A search revealed 900 grams of skunk (a cannabis strain) hidden in crayfish. Ifeanyi, a first-time traveller, implicated Qatar-based Nigerian Ohadiegwu Anthony Uchenna, who had accompanied him to the airport and was arrested on site.
A subsequent search of Uchenna’s hotel room in Ajao Estate uncovered an additional 200 grams of the substance. Uchenna confessed to planning to retrieve the bag in Doha if Ifeanyi had evaded detection.
At Tincan Port in Lagos, NDLEA recovered 81.7 kilograms of Canadian Loud (another cannabis variant) and 1.2 kilograms of hashish oil from a 40-foot container of vehicle spare parts imported from Montreal, Canada, during a joint examination on September 9. Two suspects, John Ochigbo, 53, and Okeke Kingsley, 26, were detained.
Separately, on September 11, officers tracked and intercepted a 65-kilogram shipment of Canadian Loud on Third Mainland Bridge, arresting driver Abubakar Ibrahim, 42, in a Toyota Sienna vehicle.
NDLEA said further, “Another shipment of Canadian Loud with a total weight of 65kg was tracked from the port to Third Mainland Bridge, where NDLEA operatives intercepted a Toyota Sienna vehicle conveying the consignment, recovered it, and arrested the driver, Abubakar Ibrahim, 42, on Thursday, 11th September.
“Two separate shipments of methamphetamine concealed in a picture frame and Loud hidden in video players were seized at two courier companies in Lagos on Monday, 8th September, and Thursday, 11 September, respectively, by NDLEA operatives. While six grams of meth recovered from the picture frame were meant for delivery in Gabon, 1.1 kg of Loud in the decoder machines was heading to the United Arab Emirates.
“In the Ikorodu area of Lagos, NDLEA operatives acting on intelligence on Thursday, 11 September, raided a factory producing skuchies, a blend of cannabis and black currant drink. No less than 6,029 bottles of the new psychoactive substance and 4,232 kg of cannabis were recovered from the factory located in Caritas, Ibeshe area of Ikorodu, while the factory manager, Joy Awosika, was arrested. Another suspect, Akeem Oriola, was in the Mushin area of Lagos with 26 kg of skunk.”
In Abuja, Babafemi said a dispatch rider, Godsplan Vincent, 29, was arrested on September 11 with 50.7 grams of cocaine and 66 grams of Loud during a stop-and-search in Utako.
He said this was as Operatives in Oyo State arrested three women, Faidat Azeez, 25; Alanu Fatimoh, 40; and Mojeed Taiwo, 25, in Oyo town with 17 kilograms of skunk.
In Kano, 100,000 tramadol pills were seized from Musa Shuaibu, 38, on September 8 along the Zaria-Kano road. Other recoveries included 196 litres of Akuskura (a new psychoactive substance) from Abubakar Adamu, 35, and 34.1 kilograms of skunk plus other items from Basiru Umar, 18, on September 11.
The statement added that Anambra State saw the arrest of a couple, Nzube Onyedika, 41, and Ebele Onyedika, 42, in Obosi with 13.9 kilograms of methamphetamine and 5.3 kilograms of skunk. Another suspect, Nnamchi Tochukwu, 36, was detained with various quantities of meth, tramadol, swinol, heroin, and skunk.
The Agency added, “In Yobe, a suspect, Mohammed Auwal, was arrested after 36 blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 22.1 kg were recovered from his residence in the Gadan Talakawa area of Potiskum, while three trans-border drug traffickers, Kunyadi Kunle Ogbungbun, 24; Olalekan Adewale, 20; and Sanya Joshua, 22, were nabbed with 394 kg of skunk in the Imeko area of Ogun State during a joint operation by NDLEA operatives with the police and local vigilantes on Sunday, 7 September. Three motorcycles used in conveying the illicit consignment were also recovered.
“In Edo State, a total of 16,966.633 kilograms of skunk were destroyed on a cannabis plantation measuring 6.786653 hectares at Ugbogyi Forest, Ovia South West LGA, while 112 bags of processed cannabis weighing 1,176 kilograms were also recovered at the farm, where four suspects—Ebenezer Ewang, Oshore John, Emmanuel Monday, and David Sunday—were arrested.”
While commending the officers for the operations, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) urged them and their colleagues across the country to continue with the ongoing balanced approach to the drug control efforts of the Agency.
