NDLEA Nabs 75-Year-Old Grandpa, Busts Drug Farms, Trafficking Rings Nationwide

A 75-year-old grandfather, Uchelue Ikechukwu, was among six suspects arrested with illicit substances during raids by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in parts of Anambra State. Similarly, a 30-year-old man, Alfa Andrew, was taken into custody following the destruction of 178,750 kilogrammes of skunk cultivated on his 71.5-hectare cannabis farm in the Mayodoga forest, Sardauna Local Government Area of Taraba State.

Uchelue was arrested at Umudioka, Dunukofia Local Government Area of Anambra with 26.7kg of skunk on Thursday, 28th August 2025. Others picked up in the state include Eneh Makuo, Emmanuel Chiemeli, Uwakwe Matthew, Chukwujekwu Ehirim, Ifeanyichukwu Olisa, and Odoh Chukwuma, who were found with various quantities of opioids and skunk at Nkwelle and Amichi.

Andrew, on the other hand, was apprehended with a Dane gun on Tuesday, 26th August, after NDLEA operatives, supported by personnel of the Nigerian Army, Nigeria Forest Security Service, Mambila Youth Vanguard, and local vigilantes, stormed his cannabis farm at Mayodoga forest, Mayosabere Ward, Taraba. A total of 178,750 kilogrammes of skunk were destroyed.

In Kaduna, NDLEA operatives intercepted no fewer than 104,900 capsules of tramadol hidden in the driver’s compartment of a fuel tanker suspected to be headed for insurgents in Borno State. The seizure, made at the Abuja/Kaduna tollgate on Friday, 29th August, led to the arrest of one Hassan Buba. Similarly, another suspect, 45-year-old Kabir Sulaiman, was caught with 34.15kg of skunk at Gwargwaje-Zaria checkpoint on Saturday, 30th August.

Also in Borno, NDLEA operatives arrested a major supplier of illicit opioids, 33-year-old Uchenna Umeh, in Maiduguri on Saturday, 30th August. He was caught shortly after receiving his supplies from Onitsha, Anambra. Items recovered from his apartment in Chescon, Pompomary, include 30,640 pills of tramadol 225mg, 7,940 tablets of rohypnol, and ₦7,999,200 in new ₦200 notes.

In Nasarawa State, NDLEA arrested 36-year-old Abubakar Dauda with 79,040 pills of tramadol and diazepam at Abacha Park, Mararaba Karu, on Thursday, 28th August. Earlier, on Tuesday, 26th August, 47-year-old Babangida Tungura was apprehended in Lafia with 30,410 pills of tramadol and rohypnol, as well as 38 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup hidden in a freezer transported from Asaba, Delta State.

In Adamawa, a 23-year-old suspect, Mohammed Ali, was arrested on Wednesday, 27th August, in a follow-up operation at Ngorore, after NDLEA operatives intercepted 15,000 tramadol capsules concealed in sacks of animal feed at Gombe Mega Park. Another suspect, Hamisu Abdullahi, was also arrested in Yola on Monday, 25th August, following the interception of 79 blocks of skunk weighing 58kg concealed under sacks of pepper in a vehicle.

Kano State also recorded multiple arrests. On Tuesday, 26th August, operatives nabbed 20-year-old Ashiru Garba and 22-year-old Aminu Abdu with 1.5kg of skunk and 25,000 pills of Exol-5 along the Kano-Hadeja Road.

Two more suspects, Ali Muhammad, 37, and Muhammad Maishanu, 42, were arrested on Thursday, 28th August, along the Zaria-Kano Road with 8,080 bottles of a new psychoactive substance and 25.7kg of skunk.

In a separate operation on Saturday, 30th August, 25-year-old Alhasaan Musa was arrested in Ungogo LGA with 250,000 tablets of Exol-5.

In Edo, NDLEA operatives intercepted 64,250 pills of tramadol in a commercial bus along Ewu-Auchi Road, Etsako West LGA, leading to the arrest of 36-year-old Mohammed Halidu.

In Ondo, two suspects, Elves Odogwu, 45, and David Jeremiah, 35, were caught with 117.5kg of processed cannabis and seeds during a raid on Aponmun Reserved Camp.

In Lagos, 164kg of skunk was recovered from the Mushin residence of a suspect, Michael Ayodele, who was arrested on Saturday, 30th August. In Ekiti, NDLEA operatives made the state’s largest single seizure of Loud and Colorado, two potent strains of cannabis.

Acting on intelligence, officers raided Nova Street, Ado-Ekiti, on Friday, 29th August, recovering 5.3kg of Loud and Colorado, as well as 2.5g of methamphetamine, from a drug kingpin, 42-year-old Ajayi Ayodeji Idowu, alias “Atiku”.

Across the country, NDLEA commands sustained their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign through sensitisation lectures and advocacy visits to schools, religious centres, workplaces, palaces, and communities. Engagements included lectures for students in Onitsha, youth of the Anglican Diocese in Abakaliki, advocacy visits to the Akran of Badagry, the MD of the Nigerian Ports Authority, the First Lady of Ogun State, and the Olofin of Isheri, Lagos.

Commending the operatives for their efforts, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), praised officers in Anambra, Taraba, Kaduna, Kano, Nasarawa, Adamawa, Gombe, Lagos, Ekiti, Ondo, and Edo Commands, while urging all commands nationwide to sustain enforcement and advocacy.