No fewer than 14 suspects have arrested as National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) uncovered a shocking attempt to traffic cocaine hidden in religious books bound for Saudi Arabia.
This is contained in a statement issued by NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi on Sunday.
According to the statement, the cocaine consignment consisting of 20 parcels with a total weight of 500grams and buried in the pages of the religious books was uncovered at a courier company in Lagos on Tuesday 15th April 2025 when NDLEA officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) were searching through export cargos going to Saudi Arabia at the logistics firm.
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At another courier service the same day, operatives seized five parcels of “Loud” — a potent variant of cannabis — weighing 2.8kg, smuggled in from the United States.
In Kano, 22-year-old Muhammad Mohammed, a suspected supplier of hard drugs to armed bandits, was arrested on April 13 while travelling to Katsina. NDLEA officials found 277 ampoules of pentazocine injection strapped to his thighs and genitals with Sellotape.
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That same day, another suspect, Mohammed Abdulrahman Abdulaziz, 43, was caught with 30kg of cannabis at Research Rimin Kebe, Nasarawa, Kano.
The agency’s operatives also uncovered a major drug warehouse in Yenagoa, Bayelsa, where they recovered 557.2kg of cannabis, 5.6kg of methamphetamine, and 29.8g of heroin on April 16. Four suspects — Sarimiye Suwa Kurtis (46), Roland Prosper (34), Sarimiye Tare Paul (45), and Fidelis Ugbesla (46) — were arrested.
In Lagos, 1.1 tonnes of cannabis were confiscated from a delivery van in Surulere, with the driver, Ismail Abdullahi, taken into custody. Meanwhile, in Kaduna, NDLEA stormed a drug hideout in Zaria on April 18, recovering 31,950 pills of tramadol (225mg) and diazepam from suspect Ike Ani, 30.
Officers in Kebbi, during a patrol along Bagudo Road on April 18, intercepted a vehicle loaded with charcoal from Benin Republic. Concealed within the sacks were 97kg of skunk. Three suspects — Abubakar Ibrahim (50), Mustapha Aliyu (32), and Bashar Lawali (28) — were arrested.
In Anambra, Okafor Marcel, 48, was apprehended with 11.5kg of cannabis in Abatete, while in Osogbo, Osun State, 27-year-old Ajala Mercy was arrested with 43 litres of skushi — a cocktail of cannabis, opioids, and blackcurrant — at her residence in Dada Estate.
The agency also raided two cannabis farms in Edo State’s Egbeta Forest, destroying over 3.7 tonnes of the substance and recovering 136.5kg of processed cannabis from the 1.4-hectare farmland.
At Tincan Port in Lagos, NDLEA finally arrested 40-year-old Basorun Usman Kayode, who had been on the run for two years over the 2023 seizure of 107kg of “Loud” imported from Canada. Another suspect, Dauda Yakubu, who distributes illicit drugs around the seaport, was also arrested on April 14.
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Commending the operations, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) praised the agency’s operatives for “maintaining a fair balance between drug supply reduction and demand reduction efforts,” urging continued vigilance in the national fight against narcotics.
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