NDLEA uncovers cross-border drug syndicates, arrests six kingpins

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have dismantled two major cross-border drug trafficking syndicates and arrested six drug kingpins from Adamawa, Anambra, and Lagos states, as well as Cameroon.

According to a statement released on Sunday by the NDLEA’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, the group had been under the agency’s surveillance for several months as they were major suppliers of drugs to terrorist groups operating in Nigeria and Cameroon.

He said, “After months of intelligence gathering and painstaking surveillance, operatives of the NDLEA have dismantled two major cross-border drug trafficking syndicates, with cocaine and opioids worth billions of naira recovered. Six leaders of the cartels were arrested in different parts of the country.

“The syndicates, which include Nigerians based in Mubi, Adamawa State; Onitsha, Anambra State; and Lagos State, as well as Cameroonians, came under the NDLEA’s radar after they were suspected of being major suppliers of drugs to terrorist groups operating in Nigeria and Cameroon.

“Leaders of the syndicates so far arrested include Ibrahim Bawuro, Najib Ibrahim, Ibrahim Umar, Nelson Anayo, Ezeh Martin, and Adejumo Ishola. Intelligence gathered revealed that some psychoactive substances, including tramadol, were often sourced by Ibrahim Bawuro and Ibrahim Najib from a notorious drug dealer in Onitsha, Nelson Udechukwu Anayo, and were then packed and concealed in vehicles at the premises of Ezeh Amaechi Martin, an associate of Udechukwu.

“The duo of Ibrahim Bawuro and Ibrahim Najib would transport the drugs from Onitsha to Yola and subsequently to other parts of the North and Cameroon in specially constructed false compartments of vehicles, which travelled from the East to the North at night.”

Babafemi further stated that on October 7, 2024, Bawuro and Najib were trailed from Onitsha, where they had gone to purchase another consignment, and were arrested in Taraba the following day. A total of 276,500 pills of tramadol were recovered from a Toyota Avensis saloon car marked DKA 57 TT, which they abandoned on the Jalingo-Yola expressway upon realising NDLEA operatives were on their trail.

“Follow-up operations were subsequently carried out in Delta and Anambra states, where Ezeh Amaechi Martin and Udechukwu Nelson Anayo were arrested by operatives of the NDLEA Directorate of Intelligence, which coordinated the entire effort with their counterparts in Taraba, Adamawa, Delta, and Anambra,” he added.

Babafemi also said another leader of a different syndicate, Ishola, was arrested on Tuesday, November 5, at the Seme border in Lagos, on his way from Ghana with 3.3 kilograms of cocaine and 600 grams of synthetic cannabis. The 37-year-old was arrested following months of intelligence and surveillance on his cross-border criminal activities.

In another operation in Lagos, Babafemi noted that operatives at the Apapa seaport on November 6 intercepted 31,750,000 pills of 240mg Voltron, a controlled opioid, which were packaged and concealed in a container imported from India as diclofenac sodium 100mg tablets.

He added, “The discovery was made during a joint examination of the container with officers of the Customs Service and other security agencies.

“At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), import shed, Ikeja, Lagos, NDLEA officers on Tuesday, November 5, intercepted a 700-gram consignment of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis. A software engineer, Olu Marshal, who showed up to collect the package, was promptly arrested, and a follow-up search of his home in Lekki led to the recovery of drug paraphernalia, including a cannabis crusher.”

Babafemi also stated that an attempt by another suspect, Orji Nnaorji, to send 32.50kg of codeine syrup and 5.70kg of cannabis to London, UK, concealed in tiger nuts cargo through the export shed of the Lagos airport, was thwarted by operatives on November 8, 2024, among other interceptions.