The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted a massive consignment of cocaine valued at N5.3 billion and codeine worth N1.1 billion, in what it described as a major breakthrough in its fight against organized criminal drug cartels.
A statement by the agency signed by the director of media and advocacy, Femi Babafemi on Sunday, said that “an international organized criminal group (IOCG) operating between Nigeria, UK, Brazil, Australia, and the United Arab Emirate has been smashed by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) who in a two-week-long intelligence-led operations across parts of Lagos arrested three leaders of the cartel after intercepting large consignment of cocaine concealed in textile materials and local charms going to Sydney, Australia at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja Lagos.”
The NDLEA explained that the unraveling of the cartel began on Tuesday, August 26, 2025, when its officers intercepted 76 cartons of textile materials bound for Sydney.
“A thorough search of the shipment led to the recovery of 16 big blocks of cocaine weighing 17.9 kilograms hidden in the lace materials parked with local charms to provide spiritual cover against law enforcement detection,”it said.
A freight agent, Olashupo Michael Oladimeji, was the first to be arrested in connection with the consignment, which was “expected to fetch the syndicate an estimated street value of over 5.3 million Australian Dollars, equivalent of N5.3 billion.”
The NDLEA investigation later unmasked other leaders of the group, including Muaezee Ademola Ogunbiyi and Shola Adegoke, who were both arrested in Lagos. Ogunbiyi was described as “the arrowhead of the syndicate in Nigeria,” with a record of serving a 14-year jail term in the UK over a murder case, while Adegoke was “jailed in the UK in 2021 for dealing in Methamphetamine and subsequently deported to Nigeria in 2024.”
In Rivers State, NDLEA operatives also discovered a massive codeine consignment.
It said, “A total of 160,200 bottles of codeine-based syrup were discovered in a 40ft container during a joint examination of the shipment by NDLEA officers and men of Nigeria Customs and other security agencies at the West Africa Container Terminal (WACT) Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne, Rivers state on Thursday 4th September.”
The consignment was valued at over N1.1 billion.
The raids extended nationwide. In Abuja, a dispatch rider, Joel Bernard, 32, was arrested with 3.1kg Colorado, while in Lagos, the duo of Tunde Ayinla, 47, and Olawale Omotare, 54, were caught with over 625kg of Loud, Colos, and Colorado. Other arrests were made in Kogi, Edo, Kaduna, Anambra, Niger, and Taraba states.
The NDLEA confirmed that “in Taraba State, a total of 18,750 kilograms of skunk were destroyed on 7.5 hectares of cannabis plantations at Joro-Ade village, Ardo Kola, LGA on Tuesday 2nd September. Owners of the two farms: Mako Zmar, 55, and Sani Titus, 45, were arrested during the operation.”