Ola ‘Kiya, Reporting
OPERATIVES of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a female drug kingpin, Shodunke Yetunde Simbiat, in Lagos, recovering 23.5 kilograms of cocaine concealed in her children’s room, as the agency intensified nationwide operations that also led to the interception of Italy-bound opioids and multiple arrests across the country.
Simbiat’s arrest comes about 20 months after a cocaine trafficking cartel led by Bolanle Lookman Dauda and his wife, Olayinka Toheebat Dauda, was dismantled in Lagos and Ogun states.
The couple were apprehended on Saturday, 25 May 2024, by operatives of the NDLEA’s Special Operations Unit at Ibiye, along the Lagos–Badagry Expressway, while attempting to cross the land border to Ghana with a drug consignment.
At the time of their arrest, 42 blocks of cocaine weighing 47.5 kilograms were recovered from them.
A follow-up operation at their residence at Plot 24/25, OPIC Extension, Petedo Road, Agbara, Ogun State, led to the seizure of an additional eight blocks weighing 10 kilograms, bringing the total haul from the couple to 57.5 kilograms.
Determined to apprehend all members of the syndicate, NDLEA operatives sustained intelligence-led surveillance on the trans-border drug trafficking organisation.
This led to the identification of Simbiat, a 39-year-old female stash keeper who had gone underground since May 2024. She was tracked to her residence at 31 Onasanya Street, Surulere, Lagos, where she was arrested on Tuesday, 9 December 2025.
A thorough search of her home resulted in the discovery of 23.5 kilograms of cocaine concealed in a black suitcase found in her children’s room.
Simbiat admitted ownership of the illicit drugs, estimated to be worth over N5 billion in street value.
In a related operation, NDLEA officers at the Terminal II departure hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, on Thursday, 18 December, intercepted a 36-year-old businessman, Nwanwene Robinson Destiny, with 1,020 pills of tramadol (225mg) and tapentadol (200mg) hidden in his luggage. He was attempting to board a Royal Air Maroc flight to Milan, Italy, where he claimed to be based, and admitted he would have earned €200 for delivering the opioids.
At the Seme border in the Badagry area of Lagos, a 48-year-old Beninoise national, Leocardi Josu, was arrested on Thursday, 18 December, while attempting to enter Nigeria with 3,400 tablets of tramadol (225mg).
Similarly, a 30-year-old suspect, Abdullahi Adamu, was apprehended along the Okene–Lokoja highway on Friday, 19 December, with 28.4 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis, and Colorado, a synthetic cannabis.
In Oyo State, NDLEA operatives on Friday, 19 December, recovered 125,000 capsules of tramadol and 1,800 ampoules of pentazocine injection from a Toyota Hiace bus marked XD 592 AWL along the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway.
Two suspects, Ogunlade Kazeem, 54, and Adeleke Ismail, 30, were also arrested with 185.4 kilograms of skunk at Challenge Motor Park, Ibadan, on Wednesday, 17 December.
A total of 405 kilograms of skunk was seized during a raid on the Owena/Ijesha forest in Osun State, where a 45-year-old suspect, Charles James, was arrested on Friday, 19 December. On the same day, NDLEA officers apprehended Jamilu Zakari, 42, at a tollgate along the Abuja–Kaduna highway with 14,960 pills of tramadol (225mg) concealed in two kola nut sacks en route from Abuja to Gusau, Zamfara State.
Across its commands and formations nationwide, the agency also sustained its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaigns over the past week, targeting schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities.
These included enlightenment lectures for students and staff of secondary schools in Anambra at the Women Development Centre, Awka; the Youth Craft Village in Malumfashi, Katsina State; and members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State, among others.
Commending the officers and men of the Special Operations Unit and the MMIA, Seme, Kogi, Kaduna, Oyo and Osun Commands for their professionalism and operational effectiveness, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), urged personnel nationwide to remain extra vigilant during the festive season and to uphold the highest standards of professionalism in all drug supply and demand reduction efforts and beyond.
