After 7 Years On The Run, NDLEA Arrests Wanted Drug Kingpin With 11.6kg Cocaine, Meth

OPERATIVES of a special operations unit of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a wanted 60-year-old drug kingpin, Okpara Paul Chigozie, ending seven years of evading the long arm of the law.

He was caught attempting to ship large quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine to the South-East and other parts of the country.

Okpara, who has been on the NDLEA’s wanted list since 2019, was eventually apprehended at his hideout at 72 Michael Ojo Street, Isheri, in the Ojo area of Lagos State, on Sunday, 13th July 2025. This followed the interception of some of his consignments at 5:45 a.m. the same day along the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway in Ilasamaja.

During the early morning operation, a team of NDLEA officers acting on credible intelligence arrested one of Okpara’s couriers, 51-year-old Achebe Kenneth Nnamdi, while he was heading to Onitsha, Anambra State, in a white Toyota Sienna vehicle.

The agency’s sniffer dogs were subsequently brought in to search the vehicle, during which 7.6 kilograms of cocaine and 900 grams of methamphetamine were found hidden in body compartments of the space bus.

A follow-up operation was promptly carried out at Okpara’s hideout in Isheri, where an additional 1.8kg of cocaine and 1.3kg of methamphetamine were recovered from his residence.

At Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, NDLEA operatives in a joint operation with Aviation Security personnel of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) on Wednesday, 16th July, recovered 7,790 pills of tramadol and rohypnol from the luggage of an Italy-bound passenger, Omoregie Nice Uyiosa.

The suspect, who was travelling to Italy via Istanbul on a Turkish Airlines flight, claimed he purchased the drugs himself, hoping to sell them in Italy at higher prices.

In another arrest at the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives at the export shed on Thursday, 17th July, intercepted 17 parcels of skunk — a potent strain of cannabis — weighing 1.70kg, concealed in packs of the popular cereal Golden Morn, and bound for Pakistan as part of a consolidated cargo.

A suspect, Chioba Robert Uchenna, who presented the consignment for shipment, was arrested.

In Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Saturday, 19th July, raided Sarah Sam Hotels, located at 115 Ogudu Road in Kosofe, where various party drugs were being distributed and sold.

The raid followed credible intelligence and surveillance, which identified a suspect, Obayemi Oyetade, as the ringleader of the drug network. At the time of the operation, 1.30kg of chocolate cannabis, 900 grams of drug-laced gummies, and 22.9 grams of skunk were recovered from Obayemi’s room in the hotel — a 20-room facility run as a family business and housing his mother and siblings. Other items recovered from the premises included three vehicles.

Three suspects — Onyeka Madu, Monday Nwadishi, and Emmanuel Madu — were also arrested on Saturday, 19th July, during an intelligence-led raid at Narayi High Cost area of Chikun LGA, Kaduna State. Authorities seized 742.866 kilograms of skunk and Colorado (a synthetic strain of cannabis) from them. In Kano, Lawan Rabiu was apprehended with 36,000 pills of tramadol along the Danbatta–Kazaure road on Wednesday, 16th July.

Meanwhile, a total of 25,000 pills of tramadol and Exol-5 were recovered from a suspect, Aliyu Abubakar, at Gombe roundabout on Friday, 18th July. That same day, the duo of Mohammed Adamu and Furaira Idris were arrested with 49 blocks of compressed skunk weighing 29kg at Kwadom, Yemaltu Deba LGA, Gombe State.

In Borno State, NDLEA officers on patrol along Baga Road, Maiduguri, on Saturday, 19th July, intercepted 74,360 pills of opioids in a Mercedes Benz C180 vehicle marked GUB 409 AA. A 44-year-old man, Audu Modu, was arrested in connection with the seizure. Meanwhile, in Bayelsa State, a 63-year-old grandmother, Akuna Nelson, was arrested on Thursday, 17th July, in the Osiri area of Yenagoa in connection with the seizure of 163 litres of ‘skuchies’ — a locally brewed psychoactive substance.

Four suspects — Ikechukwu Abugu, 42; Sunday Ani, 18; Chukwu Christian, 46; and Emmanuel Olisakwe, 55 — were arrested on Thursday, 17th July, by NDLEA operatives along the Okene–Lokoja highway in Kogi State. They were found in possession of 2kg of methamphetamine during a search of their vehicle, which was travelling from Onitsha, Anambra State, to Minna, Niger State.

In Abia State, NDLEA officers on Monday, 14th July, raided the base of a notorious drug dealer, Nduka Obi, 39, at 4 Niger Street, Ugwa Road, Aba, where various quantities of tramadol, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and a total of ₦736,000 in cash were recovered from him.

Additionally, a total of 45,000 pills of tramadol were seized from a suspect, Chisom Okpalaeke, 30, by NDLEA operatives patrolling along the Onitsha–Enugu Expressway in Enugu State on Wednesday, 16th July. On the same day, officers of the Taraba State Command of the agency apprehended two suspects — Ngwokwoka Thomas, 44, and Mohammed Audu, 44 — with 10,000 capsules of tramadol and one gram of cannabis at Dan-Anacha, Gassol LGA.

The War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) social advocacy campaign by NDLEA commands also continued across the country during the past week. These included WADA sensitisation lectures delivered to students and staff of Government Day Secondary School, Badeggi, Niger State; Dah Model Academy, Ngurore, Adamawa State; Icon Academy, Nsukka, Enugu State; Government Technical College, Nkpor, Anambra State; and Madrisatul Tahfizul Qur’an Wa Ulumud Deen, Jaba Fagge, Kano State, among others.

While commending the officers and men of MMIA, SOU, and the Lagos, Kaduna, Osun, Bayelsa, Gombe, Borno, Abia, Kogi, Enugu, and Taraba Commands for the arrests and seizures recorded over the past week, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), also praised their counterparts across the country for maintaining a balanced approach between drug supply reduction and demand reduction efforts.