NDLEA Arrests Indian Businessman, Three Nigerians Over N3.9bn Tramadol at Lagos Airport
…Agency also busts ‘skuchies’ factory in Ikorodu, intercepts multiple drug shipments nationwide
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested an Indian businessman, Mr Gupta Ravi Kumar, alongside three Nigerian accomplices—Ogunlana Noah Olanrewaju, Olushola Idrees Kayode, and Bakare Korede Muheeb—over the interception of 2,248,000 pills of tramadol valued at N3.99 billion at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
The illicit consignment, disguised as multivitamins and packed in 114 cartons, arrived from Delhi, India, aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight on Monday, 8th September 2025.
After days of surveillance, NDLEA operatives swooped on a clearing agent and two drivers attempting to move the consignment out of the airport in two trucks on Thursday, 11th September. A follow-up operation on Friday led to the arrest of Mr Kumar as he attempted to take delivery of the consignment.
In another operation at MMIA’s Terminal 2 departure gate, NDLEA operatives intercepted a passenger, Onyeganochi Stanley Ifeanyi, on Sunday, 7th September, while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to Doha. Concealed in his luggage were 900 grams of skunk, a potent strain of cannabis, hidden in crayfish.
His confession led to the arrest of one Ohadiegwu Anthony Uchenna, who handed him the bag and was still within the airport vicinity. A subsequent search of Uchenna’s hotel room in Ajao Estate uncovered an additional 200 grams of skunk.
At Tincan Port, Lagos, NDLEA operatives, during a joint examination with other security agencies on Tuesday, 9th September, discovered 161 parcels of Canadian Loud weighing 81.7kg and 1.2kg of hashish oil in a 40-foot container of vehicle spare parts from Montreal, Canada.
Two suspects, John Ochigbo, 53, and Okeke Kingsley, 26, were arrested. A separate shipment of 65kg Canadian Loud was tracked from the port to Third Mainland Bridge, where NDLEA intercepted a Toyota Sienna and arrested the driver, Abubakar Ibrahim, 42.
The agency also intercepted drug shipments through courier companies. Six grams of methamphetamine concealed in a picture frame bound for Gabon and 1.1kg of Loud hidden in video decoders destined for the United Arab Emirates were seized.
In Ikorodu, Lagos, operatives raided a factory producing skuchies, a psychoactive cocktail of cannabis mixed with blackcurrant drink. The raid, conducted on Thursday, 11th September, led to the recovery of 6,029 bottles of the substance and 4,232kg of cannabis.
The factory manager, Joy Awosika, was arrested, while another suspect, Akeem Oriola, was picked up the same day in Mushin with 26kg of skunk.
The NDLEA also recorded major arrests and seizures across Nigeria:
Abuja: Dispatch rider, Godsplan Vincent, 29, was arrested with 50.7g of cocaine and 66g of Loud during a stop-and-search operation in Utako.
Oyo State: Three female suspects, Faidat Azeez, 25; Alanu Fatimoh, 40; and Mojeed Taiwo, 25, were arrested with 17kg of skunk in Oyo town.
Kano State: On Monday, 8th September, 100,000 tramadol pills were seized from Musa Shuaibu, 38, along Zaria–Kano Road. On Thursday, operatives also recovered 196 litres of Akuskura, 34.1kg of skunk, 493 tubes of rubber solution, and 25 litres of ‘suck and die’ from two suspects in Kumbotso LGA.
Anambra State: A couple, Nzube Onyedika, 41, and his wife, Ebele, 42, were arrested in Obosi with 13.9kg of methamphetamine and 5.3kg of skunk. Another suspect, Nnamchi Tochukwu, 36, was also arrested with various narcotics.
Yobe State: Mohammed Auwal was arrested with 22.1kg of cannabis in Potiskum.
Ogun State: Three trans-border traffickers were nabbed in Imeko with 394kg of skunk during a joint NDLEA-police-vigilante operation.
Edo State: NDLEA destroyed 16,966.633kg of cannabis on a 6.78-hectare farm in Ugbogyi forest, Ovia South West LGA, and seized 1,176kg of processed cannabis. Four suspects were arrested.
Beyond enforcement, NDLEA continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation programmes in schools, worship centres, motor parks, and communities.
Recent campaigns included lectures in Enugu, Oyo, Katsina, Niger, and Ogun States, where the Ogun State Command paid a courtesy visit to the Osile Oke-Ona Egba, Oba Adedapo Adewale Tejuosho.
Commending the operatives for their efforts, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), urged officers nationwide to sustain the agency’s “balanced approach” combining tough enforcement with widespread advocacy.
