The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled two major drug cartels operating in Lagos, leading to the arrest of a suspected kingpin, Alhaji Hammed Taofeek Ode, and other accomplices.
According to the Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Mr Femi Babafemi, these were achieved in a series of intelligence-led operations that spanned over three weeks.
He said, operatives traced and intercepted six cocaine consignments concealed in containers of stainless cups, body cream, and hair gel.
According to him, the breakthrough began on September 16, 2025, when NDLEA officers at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, seized 174 parcels of cocaine weighing 13.4 kilograms hidden in cocoa butter body cream jars.
He stated that NDLEA investigations linked the shipment to Alhaji Ode, who was later arrested after weeks of coordinated surveillance and collaboration with the police.
The suspect, who claims to be a businessman and estate developer, reportedly confessed to owning the consignment valued at over ₦150 million.
The NDLEA spokesman stated that, he was said to have recently returned to Nigeria in 2024 after spending 27 years across several European countries, including the United Kingdom, where he last resided.
Similarly, the NDLEA operatives at MMIA foiled five attempts by another syndicate to smuggle cocaine to the United Kingdom.
The crackdown began with the seizure of 2.1 kilograms of cocaine concealed in hair cream containers, leading to the arrest of a furniture maker, Smith David Korede, from whose residence additional cocaine parcels were recovered.
Further interceptions of similar consignments totaling over 4 kilograms were linked to him and other suspects, including Ogunbiyi Oluseye Taiwo and Popoola Francis Olumuyiwa.
Meanwhile, NDLEA officers attached to courier companies also intercepted 6.3 kilograms of Loud, a potent cannabis strain, hidden in bedsheets and hibiscus flowers imported from Thailand.
A joint operation between NDLEA and Customs personnel along the Danbatta–Daura Road in Kano resulted in the arrest of 38-year-old Sa’adu Ali and the seizure of over 290,000 Tramadol and Pregabalin capsules.
In separate raids across Lagos, operatives apprehended a notorious drug dealer, John Igbe, popularly known as SammyBless, with 550 grams of Colorado, a synthetic strain of cannabis, packaged for retail.
Other arrests in Mushin and Alaba led to the recovery of 109 kilograms of skunk, thousands of bottles of codeine syrup, and hundreds of thousands of expired pharmaceutical tablets.
Babafemi said that the series of arrests and seizures reflect NDLEA’s renewed offensive against transnational and local drug trafficking networks determined to exploit Nigeria’s export routes.
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