NDLEA Intercepts N6.5 Billion Worth of Opioids in Lagos, Rivers Ports, Arrests Two British Nationals

 

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has seized over six million pills of opioids, including tamol 225mg, tapentadol 225mg, and carisoprodol 225mg, along with 332,000 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup, valued at N6,524,000,000, at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne, Rivers, and Apapa seaport, Lagos.

 The operations followed intelligence-driven tracking of new drug trafficking routes, leading to the watch-listing and 100% examination of targeted containers. At Onne, six million opioid pills and 162,000 bottles of codeine syrup were uncovered in two containers on May 19 and 20, 2025, during joint examinations with Nigeria Customs and other security agencies. At Apapa, 170,000 bottles of codeine syrup were seized on May 22 in a similar operation.

In a separate case, NDLEA arrested two British nationals, Mhizha Jordan Alexander Tatendra and Ayedipe Andrew Adejuwon, alongside Nigerians Shonowo Oluwaseun Imole and Ofuoma Omokaro Ayobami, for attempting to smuggle 51.10kg of Loud, a potent cannabis strain, through Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos. 

The interception occurred on May 15, when Alexander arrived via Qatar Airways from Doha. NDLEA operatives monitored him to the airport car park, where Adejuwon, Imole, and Ayobami awaited the consignment. A follow-up search at their Lekki apartment yielded N3,810,500 in cash, N93,000, 17,200 South African Rand, an Apple laptop, an iPhone 14 Pro Max, and four nitrous oxide canisters. Alexander admitted to being recruited during a vacation with a promise of £1,300 for delivery, while Adejuwon confessed to arriving from South Africa via Ghana a day earlier.

Additionally, NDLEA destroyed 75,000kg of skunk on 30 hectares of cannabis farms in Esuk-Odot village, Odukpani LGA, Cross River, recovering 200kg on May 22. In Edo State, 1,957.5kg of skunk was destroyed in Ohosu forest, Ovia South West LGA, and Okhuse community forest, Owan West LGA, on May 23 and 24. In Nasarawa, 4,000kg of skunk hidden under unprocessed wood was seized in Keffi on May 24, with suspects Sunday Daniel, 51, and Abu Peter, 30, arrested, while Godwin Obi, 39, was nabbed in Karu with 154.5kg on May 21.

Other seizures include 57,750 tramadol and diazepam pills intercepted in Kaduna on May 21, 45kg of skunk in Bauchi, 2kg of Colorado in Yobe, and 97kg of compressed cannabis in Niger. In Lagos, raids in Osapa London, Lekki, and Idasun, Eleko, Ibeju Lekki, led to arrests and seizures of cocaine, methamphetamine, molly, rohypnol, codeine, cannabis, and nitrous oxide.