NDLEA Seizes 2.3 Tonnes of Drugs, Busts UK ‘Colos’ Pipeline

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has smashed several trafficking networks in coordinated operations across eight states, intercepting synthetic cannabis shipments from the United Kingdom and recovering more than 2.3 tonnes of assorted illicit drugs hidden in everyday items ranging from music speakers to loaves of bread.

In a statement on Sunday, NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy Femi Babafemi said operatives intercepted two consignments of synthetic cannabis, popularly known on the streets as Colorado or “Colos,” concealed in consolidated cargoes arriving from the UK. At the import shed of Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos, officers seized 27 parcels weighing 32.20kg. A real estate agent, Abideen Jide Salami, was arrested on 9 September after arriving with a secret collection code allegedly relayed by his brother in the United Kingdom. A follow-up operation led to the arrest of 44-year-old Nurudeen Abiodun Kadiri, the designated recipient of a second consignment weighing 12.25kg, which he said was also sent by his brother in the UK.

Further seizures of the same substance occurred at Lagos motor parks. At Maza Maza, officers recovered three packs of Colorado hidden inside a music speaker destined for Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, and ultimately Liberia. Tour agent Ifeanyi Obed Augustine, 41, and the alleged owner, Obasi Ugochuckwu, 46, were arrested after a sting at a nearby eatery. At Iddo motor park, Ifeanyi Nwokolo Henry was nabbed on 11 September while attempting to dispatch 2.1kg of Colorado to Kano. At least seven suspects have been linked to the Lagos seizures alone.

In Delta State, separate operations in Ughelli and Asaba yielded ampoules of pentazocine injection, codeine syrup, tramadol, diazepam, flunitrazepam (Hypnox) and MDMA (Molly). Some of the drugs were concealed in music speakers; two suspects, Emeka Oji and Chukwuebuka Anedi, were arrested.
Kano Command recorded one of the largest single hauls: a raid in Sabon Gari led to the arrest of 20-year-old Saidu Adamu with 785,000 capsules of pregabalin weighing 669.425kg.

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Along the Zaria–Kano–Hadejia road, officers recovered 1,700 tablets of diazepam hidden inside loaves of bread from 28-year-old Habibu Sabitu. In Plateau State, 51-year-old Chinedu Uzor was arrested at Katako Market in Jos with 157,100 capsules of tramadol.

The agency also sustained its campaign against illicit cannabis cultivation. In Edo State, officers destroyed 4,832.56kg of skunk on farms in Usen Forest, Igwe-Oke Forest and Ogboha Forest across Ovia South West, Owan East and Owan West local government areas, arresting 39-year-old Sunday Segun. In Ondo State, a raid on a residence along Oke-Iya, Ijoka Road, Akure, recovered 186kg of skunk hidden in the boot of a Toyota Avalon from 58-year-old Paul Ogbuwala, who planned to move the consignment to Jos. In Kaduna, Hannah Michael was arrested at Gonin Gora with 369.6kg of cannabis. In Bayelsa, four suspects, including 70-year-old Godwoman Gboriye, were arrested at Ovom, Yenagoa, with 110 bags of cannabis weighing 876kg. The others are Motombo Silver, 44; Pere Andrew, 39; and Keme Andrew, 43.

Alongside enforcement, NDLEA Commands continued War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation programmes in schools, workplaces, worship centres and communities, including visits to traditional rulers and educational institutions in Kano, Cross River, Plateau and Nasarawa states.

NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd) commended officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation, the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Command and the commands in Ondo, Edo, Delta, Kaduna, Plateau, Bayelsa and Kano. He urged them to maintain the agency’s balanced strategy of shutting down every trafficking pipeline—whether at airports, seaports, land borders or inland cannabis farms.

The latest operations form part of a sustained national crackdown that has seen the agency record tens of thousands of arrests and multi-tonne seizures in recent years, disrupting both local and transnational supply chains.

The creative concealment methods—drugs in speakers, bread and family-linked cargo—underscore the evolving tactics of traffickers and the need for continued public vigilance against accepting unsolicited packages from abroad.