NDLEA Uncovers Cocaine Hidden in Cream Jars, Raids Nightclub, Arrests 100 Suspects

A total of 70 parcels of cocaine, factory-packed and concealed in the walls of cocoa butter formula body cream containers heading to London, United Kingdom, have been uncovered at the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

Three suspects have been arrested in a series of follow-up operations across Lagos.

The cocaine consignments, weighing 3.60 kilograms, were discovered on 14th October 2025 during an examination of cargoes packaged as personal effects bound for London on an Air Peace flight. A cargo agent, Lawal Mustapha Olakunle, who presented the consignment for airfreight, was promptly arrested. Subsequent investigations spanning two weeks led to the arrest of two principal suspects linked to the attempt to export the concealed Class A drug to the UK.

In a follow-up operation on 18th October, a female healthcare worker, Ogunmuyide Taiwo Deborah, was arrested, leading to the apprehension of Mutiu Adebayo Adebiyi, the Chief Executive Officer of Mutiu Adebiyi & Co Travel Agency, at his office located at 23 Ladoke Akintola Street, Ikeja GRA, Lagos, on Monday 20th October.

In a similar development, an attempt by a 35-year-old Lesotho national, Lemena Mark, to export 103.59 grams of methamphetamine concealed in a Diabeta Herbs coffee tea pack to the Philippines on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, on Wednesday 22nd October, was thwarted by NDLEA officers who arrested him and recovered the illicit drug.

No fewer than 21,950 capsules of Tramadol 250mg, concealed inside a 100-litre water heater, were recovered from Umar Abubakar, 40, who was arrested by NDLEA operatives at Bode Saadu, Moro Local Government Area of Kwara State, following credible intelligence on Tuesday 21st October.

In Lagos, NDLEA operatives, in the early hours of Sunday 26th October, raided Proxy Night Club, located at 7 Akin Adesola Street, Victoria Island, where a drug party was ongoing. Over 100 suspects, including the owner of the club, Mike Eze Nwalie Nwogu, popularly known as Pretty Mike, were arrested and taken into custody for screening.

Cartons of illicit substances, including Loud and laughing gas, were recovered from suspects at the party and in the club’s store.

The raid followed intelligence about the planned drug party. NDLEA operatives, who had infiltrated the gathering from 11 p.m. on Saturday 25th October, disrupted the event at about 3 a.m. on Sunday 26th October, acting in line with the Agency’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

In Taraba State, Auwal Musa, 26, and Salihu Bala, 22, were arrested on Tuesday 21st October with 450,000 pills of Tramadol and Exol-5 at the Dan-Anacha checkpoint while conveying the consignment in a truck loaded with building materials from Onitsha, Anambra State, to Mubi, Adamawa State.

Meanwhile, NDLEA officers on patrol along the Okene–Lokoja Highway in Kogi State seized 162.2 kilograms of skunk, a potent strain of cannabis, from a truck on Friday 24th October. Similarly, operatives in Nasarawa State, on Wednesday 22nd October, recovered 128 kilograms of the same psychoactive substance from Abubakar Muhammad, 55, in the Keffi area of the state.

A mother of two, Oyonumoh Glory Effiong, who is a major distributor of Canadian and California Loud—both potent strains of cannabis—in the Lekki, Ajah, Ikoyi, Victoria Island and VGC areas of Lagos, was arrested by NDLEA operatives on Friday 17th October during a raid at her Lekki residence, where 500 grams of the illicit substances were recovered.

In the Ikorodu area of Lagos, NDLEA officers on Thursday 23rd October raided the home of Ogunyabo Adenigbigbe at Solomade Estate, where 275 litres of skuchies, a new psychoactive substance produced with blackcurrant drink, cannabis, and opioids, were recovered.

A 75-year-old grandfather, Echendu Onuoka, was arrested on Wednesday 22nd October at Ovum Village, Obingwa LGA, Abia State, with 4.7 kilograms of skunk seized from him, while a 60-year-old grandmother, Aukana John, was caught with 225 grams of the same substance at Apanta Village in the same LGA.

Additionally, 150 kilograms of skunk were recovered during a raid at Lot Camp, Ikun Akoko, Ondo State. Two suspects—Bashir Mohammad, 50, and Samini Ahmed Tijjani, 35—were nabbed with 234.5 kilograms of the same substance at Yan Aya, Saminaka, in Lere LGA, Kaduna State, on Friday 24th October. Another pair of suspects—Isah Usman, 50, and Salvation Okoler, 18—were arrested with 8,600 pills of Tramadol 225mg and Rohypnol along the Abuja–Kaduna highway.

At the Seme border area of Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Wednesday 22nd October arrested Jacob Ojugbele with 55 kilograms of skunk at Ashipa, Badagry, while Amusa Oluwabukola was caught with 121.3 litres of skuchies at Itoga, Badagry.

In Zamfara State, NDLEA operatives on patrol along the Gummi–Anka road on Monday 20th October arrested Abubakar Ibrahim, 30, in possession of an AK-47 rifle and 1,746 assorted rounds of ammunition for AK-47 and GPMG rifles while transporting them from Sokoto to Bagega Forest in Anka LGA. The suspect and exhibits have since been handed over to the appropriate security agency for further investigation.

Meanwhile, NDLEA commands and formations across the country have continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces, and communities. These include lectures at Asabari Grammar School, Saki West LGA, Oyo State; Government Day Girls Secondary School, Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State; St. Mark’s College, Nsude, Enugu State; Kusaki Secondary School, Gboko North, Benue State; Government Day Secondary School, Serti-Baruwa, Taraba State; Police Children School 2, Port Harcourt, Rivers State; and Hajara Ahmad International School, Tudun Wada, Kano State, among others.

While commending the officers and men of the MMIA, AIIA, Lagos, Kwara, Abia, Nasarawa, Kogi, Ondo, Anambra, Taraba, Kaduna, Seme, and Zamfara Commands for their outstanding arrests and seizures, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), urged them and their colleagues across the country to sustain the Agency’s balanced approach to drug control.