Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) successfully dismantled two major cross-border drug trafficking syndicates, arresting six key figures from Adamawa, Anambra, Lagos states, and Cameroon.
According to an NDLEA statement released on Sunday by spokesperson Femi Babafemi, the syndicates had been under investigation for several months.
They were identified as major suppliers of narcotics to terrorist groups operating in Nigeria and Cameroon.
Babafemi said, “After extensive intelligence gathering and surveillance, the NDLEA has broken up two significant cross-border drug trafficking rings.
Cocaine and opioids worth billions of naira have been seized, and six cartel leaders arrested across different states.”
The syndicates, which operated from Mubi (Adamawa State), Onitsha (Anambra State), and Lagos State, as well as from Cameroon, came under the NDLEA’s scrutiny for their alleged involvement in supplying drugs to militant groups in both Nigeria and Cameroon.
The arrested cartel leaders include Ibrahim Bawuro, Najib Ibrahim, Ibrahim Umar, Nelson Anayo, Ezeh Martin, and Adejumo Ishola.
Intelligence gathered indicated that Ibrahim Bawuro and Najib Ibrahim frequently sourced psychoactive substances, such as tramadol, from notorious drug dealer Nelson Udechukwu Anayo in Onitsha.
These drugs were concealed in vehicles at the premises of Udechukwu’s associate, Ezeh Amaechi Martin, before being transported to various destinations.
Babafemi explained, “Bawuro and Najib would transport the drugs from Onitsha to Yola, and subsequently to other parts of Northern Nigeria and Cameroon, hidden in specially constructed compartments of vehicles traveling at night.”
On October 7, 2024, Bawuro and Najib were tracked from Onitsha after purchasing a new batch of drugs, and were apprehended the following day in Taraba.
A total of 276,500 tramadol pills were recovered from a Toyota Avensis car they had abandoned on the Jalingo-Yola expressway after realizing they were being pursued by NDLEA operatives.
Further operations across Delta and Anambra states led to the arrests of Ezeh Amaechi Martin and Udechukwu Nelson Anayo, facilitated by the NDLEA Directorate of Intelligence in collaboration with local counterparts.
In a separate operation, Adejumo Ishola, another syndicate leader, was arrested on November 5 at the Seme border in Lagos, while attempting to cross from Ghana with 3.3 kilograms of cocaine and 600 grams of synthetic cannabis.
His arrest followed months of surveillance on his cross-border activities.
The NDLEA also intercepted 31,750,000 pills of the controlled opioid Voltron, concealed in a shipment from India at the Apapa seaport on November 6.
The pills, disguised as diclofenac sodium tablets, were seized in a joint operation with the Nigerian Customs Service and other security agencies.
On November 5, NDLEA officers at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos seized 700 grams of “Loud,” a potent strain of cannabis.
The suspect, Olu Marshal, a software engineer, was arrested after he attempted to collect the drugs.
A follow-up search of his home in Lekki uncovered drug paraphernalia, including a cannabis crusher.
Additionally, on November 8, NDLEA operatives intercepted an attempt to smuggle 32.5 kg of codeine syrup and 5.7 kg of cannabis from Nigeria to London. The drugs were hidden in tiger nuts cargo at the Lagos airport’s export shed.
Babafemi concluded, “These seizures and arrests demonstrate the NDLEA’s continued commitment to dismantling drug cartels and preventing the flow of illegal narcotics that fuel terrorism and undermine public health.”
