NO fewer than six million pills of opioids — namely tamol 225mg, tapentadol 225mg, and carisoprodol 225mg — as well as 332,000 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup with a combined street value of Six Billion, Five Hundred and Twenty-Four Million Naira (₦6,524,000,000.00) have been intercepted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne, Rivers State, and the Apapa Seaport, Lagos.
The seizures at both ports followed intelligence and tracking of new trafficking routes used by drug cartels to smuggle illicit substances into Nigeria.
This intelligence led to the watch-listing of the containers for 100 per cent examination. The consignments at the Port Harcourt ports — comprising six million pills of opioids and 162,000 bottles of codeine syrup — were uncovered in two containers on Monday, 19th and Tuesday, 20th May 2025 during a joint inspection by NDLEA officers, Nigeria Customs personnel, and other security agencies. At the Apapa Port in Lagos, a further 170,000 bottles of codeine syrup were discovered in a watch-listed container during a similar joint examination on Thursday, 22nd May.
Meanwhile, two British nationals — Mhizha Jordan Alexander Tatendra and Ayedipe Andrew Adejuwon — along with two Nigerians — Shonowo Oluwaseun Imole and Ofuoma Omokaro Ayobami — have been arrested by NDLEA operatives for attempting to smuggle 92 bags of “Loud”, a potent strain of cannabis weighing 51.10kg, through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
Alexander was intercepted with the consignment upon arrival at MMIA on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha on Thursday, 15th May, based on processed intelligence.
He was allowed to pass through security unimpeded and was closely monitored by NDLEA operatives to the car park, where the cargo’s owner, Ayedipe Andrew Adejuwon — a Nigerian-British dual national — was waiting in an SUV with his relative, Shonowo Oluwaseun Imole, and the vehicle’s driver, Ofuoma Omokaro Ayobami.
NDLEA operatives swooped in as the group attempted to leave the airport car park, arresting them with the drug exhibits inside the vehicle. In his statement, Alexander confessed that he had been recruited during a recent vacation and was promised £1,300 for successfully delivering the consignment in Lagos.
The syndicate’s alleged leader, Ayedipe Andrew Adejuwon, admitted he had arrived in Nigeria the previous day from South Africa via Ghana.
A follow-up operation at their apartment in Lekki yielded further discoveries. At the point of arrest, ₦93,000 and 17,200 South African Rand were recovered from Adejuwon.
A search of his Lekki residence also led to the seizure of ₦3,810,500 in cash, an Apple laptop, an iPhone 14 Pro Max, and four laughing gas (nitrous oxide) canisters.
A total of 75,000 kilogrammes of skunk was destroyed by NDLEA operatives on 30 hectares of cannabis farms in Esuk-Odot village, Odukpani LGA, Cross River State, where an additional 200kg of the same substance was recovered on Wednesday, 22nd May.
Furthermore, 1,957.5kg of the psychoactive plant was destroyed in Ohosu Forest, Ovia South-West LGA, and Okhuse Community Forest, Owan West LGA, Edo State, on Friday, 23rd and Saturday, 24th May.
In Nasarawa State, two suspects — Sunday Daniel (51) and Abu Peter (30) — were arrested in Keffi on Saturday, 24th May after 4,000 kilogrammes of skunk were discovered concealed under unprocessed wood in their lorry.
Another suspect, Godwin Obi (39), was arrested in Karu with 154.5kg of the same substance on Wednesday, 21st May.
In Kaduna, NDLEA operatives on patrol along the Kaduna–Zaria Expressway at Gwargwaje intercepted 22-year-old Muhammad Hamza on Wednesday, 21st May with 57,750 pills of tramadol and diazepam.
On the same day, their counterparts in Bauchi arrested Usman Muhammad (45) along Bauchi–Misau Road with 80 blocks of skunk weighing 45kg.
Similarly, operatives on stop-and-search operations along the Potiskum–Damaturu Road in Yobe State intercepted 55 parcels of “Colorado” weighing 2kg, which a suspect, Adum Muhammed (29), was attempting to smuggle into the Republic of Chad via Ngamboru Ngala border town in Borno State.
In Niger State, NDLEA operatives on patrol along the Mokwa–Jebba Road on Thursday, 22nd May, intercepted a Mercedes Benz car (registration number FST 938 FU) loaded with 235 blocks of compressed cannabis sativa weighing 97kg and arrested the driver, Adams Ayibakro.
