NDLEA seizes N10bn drug haul in week-long Lagos, Katsina, Edo operations
NDLEA intercepted narcotics and ammunition worth about N10 billion in coordinated operations across Lagos, Katsina and Edo states between July 19 and 24, 2026. The biggest single haul came on July 20 at Apapa seaport, where officers uncovered a container of three vehicles hiding 4,777 sachets of Canadian Loud weighing 2,388.5 kg, valued at over N7.1 billion. On July 24 at Lagos' Murtala Muhammed International Airport, a joint cargo check revealed 2,240,000,000 tablets of Tapentadol 250 mg from India aboard an Air Maroc flight, worth more than N2.2 billion. Earlier that week, a courier firm in Lagos was stopped for a consignment of tramadol concealed in black soap bound for the UK. NDLEA also dismantled a cocaine syndicate led by 55-year-old Onuigbo Ndubisi Chinedu after tracing a 3.30 kg cocaine shipment through three cargo agents and arresting the kingpin while he attempted to send another consignment abroad. Separate arrests included entrepreneur Emmanuella Chukwu-Edo in Surulere with 2.80 kg of synthetic cannabis, and in Katsina and Edo states seizures of hundreds of rounds of military-grade ammunition and over 1,300 kg of cannabis and skunk. Earlier in July the agency declared alleged methamphetamine kingpin Nnamuka Kelvin Uchenna wanted, froze nearly N9.84 billion in assets and secured forfeiture orders on a filling station, buildings and four SUVs. The scale of these seizures highlights entrenched drug-trafficking networks that threaten public health and security, suggesting a need for continued vigilance and timely reporting of suspicious activity to NDLEA.