NDLEA Uncovers Cocaine Stashed In Lipsticks and Land Papers, Dismantles Drug Rings Nationwide

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a notorious drug trafficker, Ajetsibo Emami, popularly known as Warri Kinsman, in Lagos.

NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi confirmed the arrest in a statement on Sunday. Emami was apprehended on Saturday, June 28, in the Ikeja area while attempting to transport a drug consignment to Lekki.

Acting on intelligence, NDLEA operatives intercepted Emami and three accomplices, seizing 24 jumbo bags containing 681 pouches of Canadian Loud, a potent cannabis strain weighing 414.2kg.

The agency also foiled several other drug trafficking attempts nationwide.

A parcel bound for the UK was discovered to contain 420 grams of cocaine cleverly concealed in 84 lipsticks. Another shipment headed for Saudi Arabia held 280 grams of cocaine hidden inside a certificate of occupancy, commonly used as proof of land ownership. Both packages were intercepted before leaving the country.

In another case, a couple, Ajah Johnson Uchenna and Rosemary Uchenna, along with their two daughters and a family friend, were arrested in Lagos for operating a drug distribution network. The couple was first caught on June 13 with 277.5kg of cannabis. A follow-up raid on July 1 at their residence led to the seizure of an additional 231kg of cannabis. Their daughters, Ngozi and Blessing, and associate Okoro Elijah, were also arrested.

At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, a suspect, Aburemi Hysent, was nabbed on July 2 trying to smuggle 7,660 tramadol pills concealed in food items en route to Italy. He confessed he was offered €800 to deliver the drugs.

In another airport bust, 52 travellers’ cheques worth AU$17.7 million, hidden in children’s books bound for Malaysia via Istanbul, were intercepted. The suspect, Bolarinwa Saheed, a freight agent, was arrested. The fake cheques were handed to the EFCC for further investigation.

Additional NDLEA operations led to the recovery of 718 parcels of cannabis (359kg) from a warehouse in Baba-Pupa, near the Seme border, on July 5.

Along the Okene-Lokoja highway, agents intercepted 10,000 tramadol pills and over 1kg of Colorado (a synthetic cannabis strain), prompting follow-up arrests in Abuja of Chinedu Odo, Samuel Ogbonna, and Kingsley Ugaji.

In Osun State, coordinated raids from July 1 to 3 yielded multiple arrests. Agunbiade Folusho and Suleiman Dasola were found with 13,000 opioid pills in Osogbo, while Adebayo Adewale was caught with over 48,000 pills in Ile-Ife. A raid on a vulcanizer’s shop in Alekuwodo turned up various illicit drugs, including pentazocine ampoules, tramadol, and codeine syrup.

Also in Osun, NDLEA destroyed a 9.67-hectare cannabis farm in Ikaka, Oke-Ila forest, burning 24,175kg of skunk and arresting seven suspects.

Further operations across the country revealed:

• 167kg of skunk seized in Gamboru-Ngala, Borno.

• 452kg of cannabis confiscated in Kano (Zaria-Kano road), with suspects Nasuru Saleh and Mustapha Muhammad arrested.

• 11,000 tramadol pills recovered in Abuja from Sule Ibrahim Sadiq.

• In Sokoto, 62-year-old Joseph Onungene was caught with 4,800 tramadol pills.

• In Kebbi, raids in Yauri turned up 312kg of cannabis and 10,000 diazepam tablets.

• In Taraba, Chigbo Okolo and Ishaku Musa were arrested with nearly 50,000 tramadol capsules at Mallum, Ardo-Kola LGA.

• In Edo State, NDLEA raided Ewere forest and arrested Alaba Monday, a wanted trafficker, with 115kg of cannabis, alongside three others.

• In Cross River, 78-year-old Mike Abeng was arrested in Ofudua, Obubra LGA, along with Oyom Akam, Sylvester Odem, and Moses Ayo, for possession of cannabis and tramadol.