NDLEA arrests convicted cocaine trafficker posing as herbal tea merchant
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a convicted cocaine trafficker who allegedly returned to the illicit drug trade after serving a five-year prison sentence, while intercepting a fuel tanker loaded with more than two tonnes of cannabis and recovering over two million opioid pills in coordinated operations across nine states.
The agency said the 34-year-old suspect, identified as Dunu Bethel Ebubechukwu, was arrested during a sting operation at Article Market, opposite Trade Fair Market in the Ojo area of Lagos, on Friday, September 4, 2026.
According to the NDLEA, Ebubechukwu was posing as a herbal tea merchant when he was arrested. He allegedly masterminded a 1.2kg cocaine shipment concealed in phone chargers and destined for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which was intercepted at a courier company in Lagos on July 31.
The arrest followed an intelligence-led investigation by operatives of the agency’s Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI), who tracked the suspect after the cocaine consignment was intercepted.
In his statement, the suspect allegedly admitted masterminding previous drug shipments and said he discarded his telephone SIM card after learning that his latest consignment had been intercepted.
The NDLEA said further investigation showed that Ebubechukwu had previously been arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, in 2011 after ingesting 900 grammes of cocaine and 130 grammes of heroin in an attempt to travel to Austria.
He was prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to five years in prison. The agency said he subsequently changed his name from Dunu Chukwuyenre Enoch to Dunu Bethel Ebubechukwu before returning to the illicit drug business.
A search of his residence at 6 Yemishola Street, Ejigbo, Lagos, also led to the recovery of phone chargers similar to those allegedly used to conceal the latest cocaine shipment. Their internal components had been removed to create space for drugs, according to the agency.
The NDLEA also reported major interceptions at the Lagos airport, including 966,200 tablets of Tramadol 225mg valued at more than N1.1 billion. The opioid was concealed among thrift trousers in a 21-carton consignment from Pakistan.
Another shipment from Singapore yielded 57.80kg of Loud, a potent synthetic strain of cannabis, valued at more than N173 million in street value.
The consignment had reportedly remained unclaimed for weeks before a joint examination by NDLEA officers, the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies on September 3.
In Ondo State, NDLEA operatives intercepted a 20,000-litre fuel tanker, marked MKA 960 XC, which the agency described as notorious for evading arrest.
The tanker was pursued along the Akoko-Lokoja Expressway on September 4 after its driver allegedly refused to stop. The driver later abandoned the vehicle at a church premises in Ugbe Akoko and fled into the bush.
A search of the tanker uncovered a concealed compartment containing 165 bags of cannabis weighing 2,145kg, alongside the legitimate fuel cargo reportedly destined for Jos, Plateau State.
At the TinCan Island Port in Lagos, the agency intercepted another 598.08kg, comprising 890 packets, of cannabis-infused cookies and gummies in a 40-foot container on September 2.
The seizure was linked to three suspects already in NDLEA custody – Yashim Dauji, Larry Ifeanyi and Joseph Moji – following an earlier seizure of 842.54kg of cannabis-laced cookies at the same port.
In Adamawa State, operatives recovered 864,000 opioid pills, particularly Tramadol, from a residence linked to a fleeing suspect, Patrick KC Frank, along the Damilu-Jambutu axis in Jimeta, Yola North Local Government Area.
The NDLEA said Frank escaped after his Honda Civic rammed into a patrol vehicle.
In another operation in Michika, a 35-year-old alleged methamphetamine supplier, Calistus Ebubechukwu, was arrested with 2kg of the substance. He was accused of supplying methamphetamine from Lagos to the Mubi and Michika axis.
At Namtari checkpoint in Mubi, operatives also intercepted Attahiru Hussaini, who was allegedly conveying Tramadol and other opioids concealed in a soap-laden Ford Galaxy bus marked JJM-953XD.
The agency reported several other seizures across the country.
In Lagos, operatives recovered 2,386.9kg of cannabis, 350 grammes of cocaine, more than 100kg of assorted grades of Tramadol, 9.7 litres of codeine syrup and 4kg of Rohypnol at Gbaji. Two suspects, Damilare Francis and Emeh Emmanuel, were also arrested with 720kg of cannabis at Agbara.
In Kogi State, three suspects – Saidu Mustapha, 35; Zaharadeen Salisu, 29; and AbdulSalam Abdullahi, 25 – were arrested with 636kg of cannabis allegedly concealed in chicken manure aboard a bus travelling from Owo, Ondo State, to Jos, Plateau State.
In Taraba, NDLEA operatives arrested 58-year-old Kelechi Unachukwu along Zaki-Biam Road in Wukari Local Government Area.
He was allegedly transporting more than 109kg of assorted pharmaceutical opioids and psychotropic substances, including Tramadol, Diazepam, Pentazocine, Phenobarbital, Exol-5, Nitrazepam, Bromazepam and Pregabalin.
The substances were reportedly being conveyed in his Toyota Corolla, marked KUJ-333BT, from Onitsha, Anambra State, to Yola, Adamawa State.
In Kaduna State, operatives intercepted a truck loaded with bags of cement along the Zaria-Kano Expressway and recovered 1,179kg of skunk.
In Bauchi, 25-year-old Hamza Dahiru was arrested in a follow-up operation after the seizure of 322.5kg of cannabis at Deba town in Gombe State on September 1.
The crackdown extended to Ekiti State, where Chuks Alex, 50, and Asafa Adekunle, 35, were arrested following the discovery and destruction of a four-hectare cannabis farm in Efon-Alaaye forest.
Operatives recovered 117kg of already-harvested skunk from the farm.
In Enugu, a 20-year-old suspect, Obinna David, was arrested at Ugbema Junction on September 5 with 40,590 capsules of Tramadol.
Beyond arrests and seizures, the NDLEA said its Commands and formations continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaigns in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities.
The agency cited sensitisation programmes for nursing mothers and nurses at Ibereko Primary Health Centre in Abeokuta North, Ogun State; youths in Umouji/Okwo community at Olokoro, Umuahia South Local Government Area of Abia State; and staff and concessionaires at the Saipem-Daewoo, NLNG terminal in Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), commended officers and men of the DOGI, MMIA, Ondo, TinCan, Lagos, Adamawa, Kaduna, Bauchi, Ekiti, Kogi, Taraba and Enugu Commands for what he described as professional and intelligence-driven operations.
Marwa urged the officers to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control, warning that traffickers attempting to evade detection by adopting new identities or hiding behind legitimate businesses would continue to be pursued.
He said the latest operations demonstrated the agency’s determination to track drug traffickers regardless of the methods they employ to conceal their activities.
