NDLEA Seizes 25kg Meth in Cereal Packs, Nabs US Basketballer with Cannabis

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted 25.05 kilogrammes of methamphetamine carefully hidden inside packs of breakfast cereals and cereal-based products brought in from South Africa, arresting a long-term resident of that country who had been living under a false identity for more than two decades.

The suspect, 56-year-old Chinedu Onwude, was arrested on Wednesday, 11 November 2026, in the arrival hall of Terminal II at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, shortly after returning from South Africa. A search of his two travelling boxes uncovered 25 parcels of a white crystalline substance that tested positive for methamphetamine. The drugs had been concealed inside assorted breakfast cereal packs in an apparent attempt to evade security screening.

According to a statement issued on Sunday by NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy Femi Babafemi, Onwude holds both Nigerian and South African passports and has lived in South Africa for over 24 years. He told investigators he adopted the name Omokan Isaac Babatope after using forged documents to enter the country and had maintained that identity ever since. He further confessed that a South Africa-based man identified as Obiora Okoye contracted him to deliver the consignment in Nigeria for a fee of 20,000 South African rand (R20,000).

In a separate operation at the same airport on the same day, NDLEA officers acting on intelligence intercepted 28-year-old American citizen Greene Da’monte Khiree. The Savannah, Georgia native arrived in Lagos on an Emirates flight from Thailand via Dubai. Placed under discreet surveillance, he was seen abandoning his two checked-in bags before attempting to leave the airport with only his hand luggage. He was arrested at the airport car park.

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A search of the abandoned bags, which bore his name tags, revealed 32 parcels of Loud — a potent strain of cannabis — weighing a total of 33.95 kilogrammes. A tracking device was also recovered. Khiree told officers he had lived in Thailand since October 2025, where he plays professional basketball, and claimed he had come to Nigeria on holiday to build networks for his career. Forensic examination of his phone, however, indicated knowledge of and involvement in the trafficking activity.

The airport seizures formed part of a wider series of operations. On Tuesday, 10 November, operatives arrested 33-year-old Taiwo Aderoju in Ebute Metta, Lagos, recovering 119.71kg of cannabis sativa. In Kaduna, a raid on Monday, 9 November, at Sabon Garin Kangin uncovered a local firearms fabrication factory. Officers arrested 45-year-old Sagiru Musa and recovered 17 locally made Dane guns, two pistols, 25 Dane gun pipes and other manufacturing materials.

Other recent recoveries include 78.8kg of cannabis, 2.5 litres of skuchies, 6.8 litres of codeine syrup, 23 grams of Rohypnol, 478 grams of tramadol, 10.6kg of nitrous oxide and 714 grams of pregabalin from an abandoned vehicle in the Ajah area of Lagos on 14 November, as well as 196 rounds of AK-47 live ammunition and N675,000 cash intercepted from a woman, Tabara Dauda, on the Abuja-Kaduna expressway.

NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer Brig-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.) commended the operatives for their vigilance, noting that the concealment of methamphetamine in breakfast cereal packs demonstrated that no method, however ingenious, can defeat the agency’s determination.

Commands across the country also continued War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools and communities during the period under review.