Olusegun Ariyo
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has arrested a Chinese businessman, an 80-year-old woman, and several others in a series of nationwide drug interdiction operations that led to the seizure of large quantities of synthetic and imported cannabis, opioids, and other illicit substances.
The agency made the arrests across multiple states between July 21 and July 26, 2025, according to a statement issued on Sunday by Femi Babafemi, Director of Media and Advocacy at NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja.
One of the suspects, a Chinese national identified as Liang Tak You, was arrested on Friday, July 25, at the arrival hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
Babafemi disclosed that NDLEA operatives, acting on intelligence, apprehended Liang after he arrived from Bangkok via Dubai aboard an Emirates flight. He was found with two suitcases containing 50 parcels of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, weighing 26.1 kilograms.
In Calabar, Cross River State, 80-year-old Grace Ekpeme was arrested in the early hours of Saturday, July 26, with over 3 kilograms of cannabis at her residence in the Edet-Nsa area of Calabar South.
Also in Lagos, on July 23, NDLEA operatives intercepted Chidi Agbafo along the Epe-Ajah Expressway with 21.7 kilograms of Colorado cannabis, some of it disguised in moimoi sachets, and 3.8 litres of codeine syrup.
He was allegedly transporting the drugs to Warri and Oghara in Delta State.
At the Apapa seaport in Lagos, officers seized 101 kilograms of Canadian Loud concealed in 202 tins of food labelled “Bean Salad Mix.” The cannabis was hidden in two Toyota Sienna buses inside a container that arrived from Canada. The seizure was made during a joint operation with Customs and other security agencies on July 25.
On July 23, along the Abuja-Kaduna highway, NDLEA operatives arrested Usman Musa, who was travelling to Kano in a commercial bus with 71,000 pills of tramadol, diazepam, and Exol-5.
In Maiduguri, Borno State, a woman identified as Binta Usman was arrested on July 23 with 30.1 kilograms of cannabis. A follow-up operation led to the arrest of her alleged accomplice, Bala Abdullahi, on July 25.
In Ondo State, three brothers, Nanna, Chizom, and Maxwell Ozirinye, were arrested on July 26 after operatives raided a cannabis farm at Bending Corner Forest, Idoani, in Ose Local Government Area. About 2,500 kilograms of cannabis were destroyed, and 121.4 kilograms of processed cannabis were recovered.
In Edo State, NDLEA officers raided the Asakpa community in Benin City on July 23 and arrested Bright Sunday Okon, 26, recovering quantities of Colorado, Loud, Arizona, skunk, and methamphetamine.
Other arrests and seizures include: 105.4kg of skunk from an abandoned car in Keffi, Nasarawa State; 6,400 tramadol pills from Bashir Abdullahi in Minna, Niger State; 113kg of cannabis from Jamiu Omolaja’s base in Ifo, Ogun State; and 10,910 tramadol capsules from Adamu Adamu along Gombe-Bajoga road.
NDLEA also said a consignment of skunk concealed in food items was intercepted in Kogi, with a follow-up leading to the arrest of Kindness Bala, 27, in Abuja, who planned to travel to Katsina and later Qatar.
The agency added that 23,600 tramadol pills, 300 ampoules of pentazocine, and 700 grams of cannabis were seized from a truck in Ayingba, Kogi State.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the agency’s commands in Lagos, Cross River, Ondo, Edo, Borno, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Gombe, Kaduna, and Kogi States for their efforts.
He also praised operatives nationwide for maintaining a balanced approach to drug supply and demand reduction.
