In a sweeping crackdown on drug trafficking, operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have apprehended a 41-year-old ex-convict and Malaysian returnee, Ndubuisi Udatu, alias Richard, with 2.7 kilograms of methamphetamine concealed in two large music speakers. The illicit consignment was intercepted for distribution in Yola and Mubi, Adamawa State, and across the border into Cameroon.
Udatu was arrested on Monday, April 7, 2025, while traveling in a commercial bus. NDLEA officers stationed at a checkpoint in Namtari, along the Ngurore-Yola road, stopped the vehicle and discovered four parcels of methamphetamine hidden inside newly acquired music speakers, along with a cash sum of N22,300. In his statement, Udatu confessed to returning to Nigeria to resume drug trafficking after completing a prison sentence in Malaysia for similar offenses.
Femi Babafemi, Director of Media & Advocacy at NDLEA Headquarters in Abuja, disclosed on Sunday, April 13, 2025, that another major arrest was made during a joint border operation with the Nigeria Customs Service at Mfum, Cross River State. A trans-border trafficker, 35-year-old Odoh Peter Ikechukwu, was caught with a staggering 8,740 ampoules of various opioid injections weighing a total of 395kg. The breakdown included 1,080 ampoules of fentanyl, 2,160 of morphine sulphate, 3,010 of phenobarbital sulphate, 2,160 of pethidine, and 330 of midazolam injections.
In separate operations, NDLEA operatives in Kano arrested 27-year-old Aliyu Ibrahim on April 11 with 20 ATM cards and 25,600 pills of high-dose tramadol (225mg and 250mg) in the Bachirawa area. A follow-up operation led to the arrest of 48-year-old Gambo Lawan at Wazobia Motor Park, Gwagwalada, FCT Abuja. Lawan’s arrest came after officers seized a consignment containing 8,960 tramadol pills during a routine check along the Gwagwalada expressway on April 7.
Additionally, along the Mokwa-Jebba road in Niger State, a 58-year-old suspect, Ademiluyi Adedapo Collins, was intercepted on April 11 with 124 kilograms of skunk—an extremely potent strain of cannabis—packed into 11 jumbo bags in the trunk of a Lexus vehicle marked KTU 54 CU.
Beyond enforcement, NDLEA commands across the country continued to ramp up their anti-drug campaign through the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) initiative. In the past week, sensitization lectures and advocacy visits were carried out at schools and communities, including New Era Secondary School, Nteje, Anambra; Promise Land College, Ikotun Egbe, Lagos; Cherryfield College, Jikwoyi, FCT; Federal Polytechnic, Ayede, Ogbomoso; and Nurul Faruq Islamic Academy, Gombi, Adamawa. The Kwara State Command also paid a WADA advocacy visit to the Oloro of Oro Kingdom, Oba Joel Olaniyi Oyatoye Titiloye Olufayo II.
Commending the dedication and coordination of the Adamawa, Cross River, FCT, Kano, and Niger State Commands, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), urged operatives across the country to sustain the momentum. He charged them to intensify both the offensive against drug cartels and the ongoing public education and demand reduction efforts.
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