Lagos trader arrested over cocaine concealed in food cartons bound for UK

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have arrested a 55-year-old Lagos businessman, Onuigbo Ndubisi Chinedu, for allegedly attempting to export 3.30 kilograms of cocaine hidden inside the walls of cartons used to package food items for shipment to the United Kingdom.

Chinedu, a clothing dealer at the popular Balogun Market on Lagos Island, was arrested on Thursday, July 23, 2026, after NDLEA operatives intercepted the drug consignment at the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, a day earlier.

According to a statement by the agency, investigations initially led to the arrest of three cargo agents identified as Nkwor Onyekachukwu Justina, Adeleke Abiola Taoheed and Ukanwa Grace Pilgrim, who handled the shipment.

Their arrest later resulted in the apprehension of Kenneth Okakpu, who delivered the consignment to the cargo agents for onward shipment to the UK.

The agency said Okakpu’s arrest eventually exposed Chinedu as the alleged kingpin behind the drug trafficking syndicate. He was subsequently arrested while allegedly making another attempt to send a fresh cocaine consignment to the United Kingdom.

In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives on Tuesday, July 21, arrested a 31-year-old entrepreneur, Emmanuella Chukwu-Edo, at her residence in Surulere, Lagos.

The arrest followed the seizure of her consignment containing 2.80kg of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, which arrived from the United States aboard a United Airlines flight on Monday, July 20.

Also at the Lagos airport, NDLEA recovered a shipment containing 2,240,000 pills of Tapentadol 250mg, estimated to have a street value of over N2.2 billion.

The agency said the consignment arrived from India aboard an Air Maroc flight and was intercepted during a joint cargo examination on Friday, July 24, following intelligence gathered and processed by NDLEA.

Shortly before that, NDLEA operatives intercepted another consignment of tramadol concealed inside containers of black soap meant for shipment to the United Kingdom. The drugs were recovered at a courier company in Lagos on Wednesday, July 22.

At the Apapa Seaport in Lagos, NDLEA officers also uncovered a container carrying three vehicles used to conceal 4,777 sachets of Canadian Loud weighing 2,388.5kg, with an estimated street value of more than N7.1 billion.

In Katsina State, operatives arrested a 30-year-old suspect, Mustapha Sani, during a patrol operation at Baure in Safana Local Government Area on Wednesday, July 22.

He was found in possession of 323 rounds of military-grade ammunition, comprising 200 rounds of 7.62mm and 123 rounds of 7.6mm ammunition, which were carefully concealed.

In another operation along the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway, NDLEA officers arrested another suspect, Abubakar Amadu, 30, during a stop-and-search exercise at Jere.

He was allegedly found with 73 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition concealed inside kegs containing red oil.

The agency said both suspects had been handed over to the appropriate security agency for further investigation.

Meanwhile, in Edo State, a raid carried out at Ilushi Community in Esan South East Local Government Area on Sunday, July 19, led to the recovery of 1,286kg of cannabis and 86kg of cannabis seeds from a warehouse.

During the same operation, operatives arrested Ojore Onweze, 45, with 60kg of skunk, while George Agwumede, 30, was apprehended with 13kg of the same substance.

“With the same vigour, Commands and formations of the Agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization activities to schools, worship centres, work places and communities among others in the past week,” the statement noted.  

Commending officers and personnel of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation, DOGI, as well as the MMIA, Apapa, Edo, Kaduna and Katsina commands for the successful operations, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), urged them to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control efforts across the country.