The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has uncovered an international drug trafficking network involving South Africa, Thailand and Nigeria, intercepting 25.05 kilogrammes of methamphetamine concealed in breakfast cereal packs and arresting an American professional basketball player over a separate 33.95 kilogramme cannabis shipment at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
The twin airport operations, which exposed elaborate concealment methods and attempts to evade security checks, were part of a nationwide crackdown that also uncovered an illegal firearms manufacturing factory in Kaduna, intercepted 196 rounds of AK-47 ammunition and resulted in the seizure of several tonnes of illicit drugs across six states.
The operations brought together two particularly striking cases: a 56-year-old Nigerian who allegedly lived in South Africa for more than 24 years under a forged identity and an American basketball player who allegedly abandoned two bags containing drugs after arriving in Lagos from Thailand.
The NDLEA said the methamphetamine consignment was intercepted on Wednesday, November 11, when operatives arrested the Nigerian suspect, identified as Omokan Isaac Babatope, whose real name was given as Chinedu Onwude, at the arrival hall of Terminal II of the Lagos airport.
A search of his two travelling boxes uncovered 25 parcels of a white crystalline substance weighing 25.05 kilogrammes, which tested positive for methamphetamine.
The trafficker had allegedly concealed the drugs inside packs of assorted breakfast cereals and cereal-based food products in an attempt to pass through airport security without detection.
Investigations reportedly revealed that the 56-year-old, who holds Nigerian and South African passports, had adopted the identity Omokan Isaac Babatope after using forged documents to gain entry into South Africa more than two decades ago.
He allegedly confessed to maintaining the assumed identity throughout his stay in the country and told investigators that a South Africa-based man, identified as Obiora Okoye, contracted him to deliver the consignment in Nigeria for 20,000 South African rand.
In another international interception at the same airport on the same day, operatives arrested a 28-year-old American citizen, Greene Da’monte Khiree, over 33.95 kilogrammes of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, allegedly imported from Thailand.
The suspect arrived in Lagos aboard an Emirates Airline flight from Thailand through Dubai but reportedly attempted to leave the airport without his two checked-in bags, taking only his carry-on luggage.
Operatives, who had placed him under discreet surveillance, apprehended him at the airport car park after observing his attempt to abandon the luggage.
A search of the two bags, both bearing his name tag, uncovered 32 parcels of Loud weighing 33.95 kilogrammes. A tracking device was also recovered from the luggage.
The suspect, a native of Savannah, Georgia, United States, reportedly told investigators that he had lived in Thailand since October 2025, where he played professional basketball, and had travelled to Nigeria on holiday to build networks for his basketball career.
However, a forensic examination of his mobile phone reportedly revealed information pointing to his knowledge of and involvement in the drug trafficking operation.
The airport seizures were followed by a major security discovery in Kaduna State, where NDLEA operatives uncovered a factory used for the local manufacture of firearms.
During a raid on Sabon Garin Kangin on November 9, operatives arrested a 45-year-old man, Sagiru Musa, and recovered 17 locally fabricated Dane guns, two pistols, 25 Dane gun pipes and other materials used in the production of firearms.
The discovery was accompanied by another interception along the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway, where officers on patrol at Jere arrested a 31-year-old woman, Tabara Dauda, on November 13 with 196 rounds of live AK-47 ammunition and N675,000 cash.
In another Kaduna operation, a 30-year-old man, Samson Chibuike Andebe, was arrested at Grace Land, Sabon Gari Local Government Area, with 3,840 tablets of tramadol 225mg weighing 2.5 kilogrammes.
Operatives also recovered 499.3 kilogrammes of skunk from two suspects, Celestine Chime, 34, and Chibueze Christ, 36, following a raid on their hideout in Gonin-Gora on November 14.
Lagos recorded further seizures when operatives arrested a 33-year-old man, Taiwo Adebayo Aderoju, at Ebute Metta on November 10 with 119.71 kilogrammes of cannabis sativa.
A separate operation in Ajah on November 14 led to the recovery of 78.8 kilogrammes of cannabis, 2.5 litres of skuchies, 6.8 litres of codeine syrup, 23 grammes of Rohypnol, 478 grammes of tramadol, 10.6 kilogrammes of nitrous oxide and 714 grammes of pregabalin.
The substances were recovered from a silver Toyota Sienna allegedly abandoned by a suspect who fled upon sighting NDLEA operatives.
In Ondo State, two suspects, Victor William, 42, and Akeem Azeez, 27, were arrested at Olabi village bush on November 10 after allegedly bringing out bags of cannabis for sale.
Their arrest led operatives to a storage facility where 50 bags of cannabis weighing 560 kilogrammes were recovered.
Another raid on a cannabis farm in Ipele forest on November 13 resulted in the arrest of three suspects, Godwin Benson, 30; Muhammed Awwal, 34; and James Timothy, 18, with 122 kilogrammes of the substance seized.
Delta State recorded one of the largest individual seizures during the operations when a 43-year-old woman, Esther Igba, was arrested at Alihame, Agbor, Ika South Local Government Area, on November 12 with 255.670 kilogrammes of cannabis sativa and 1.5 kilogrammes of cannabis seeds.
Earlier, on November 10, operatives arrested a 25-year-old suspected drug distributor, Aaron Thomas, popularly known as Ibori, at Oguato, Ughelli South Local Government Area, after tracking him for more than six months.
Described by the agency as a major illicit drug distributor operating a notorious bush bar, Thomas was arrested with 360 grammes of cannabis, 12.7 litres of codeine syrup, 500 grammes of tramadol 100mg, 90 grammes of tramadol 200mg, 215 grammes of swinol and 135 grammes of Molly, also known as MDMA.
In Osun State, NDLEA operatives conducting a farm destruction exercise at Owena Forest Reserve arrested two suspects, Eze Chidiebere, 23, and Nwaoge Ugochukwu, 24, with 86 kilogrammes of cannabis.
A related operation in the forest reserve led to the arrest of a 40-year-old man, Ugwu Chukwuemeka, with 28 kilogrammes of dried cannabis and 21 kilogrammes of fresh cannabis leaves.
His 0.855-hectare cannabis farm, estimated to contain 2,137.5 kilogrammes of the plant, was subsequently destroyed.
In Edo State, weeks of surveillance on illicit drug activities in Benin City culminated in a raid on Jamila Street, Ikpoba Hill, on November 10, leading to the arrest of a 39-year-old woman, Blessing Chukwudi.
Operatives recovered 22 compressed parcels of Loud weighing 14 kilogrammes, 65 grammes of Colorado and 73 grammes of methamphetamine from her.
Beyond the enforcement operations, the agency continued its War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation campaign in schools, religious institutions and communities across the country.
Schools reached during the week included Poko Community Primary School, Poka, Epe, Lagos; Community Grammar School, Eyinni, Ibadan; Iganmode Grammar School, Ota; Presco High School, Abakaliki; Federal Government Girls College, Efon Alaye; Obasanjo Modern Primary School, Jos; and Government Girls Secondary School, Sabon Garin Gaidam, Kano.
The Ondo State Command also paid an advocacy visit to the Olu of Ilu Abo, Oba Olu Falae, as part of efforts to enlist traditional institutions in the campaign against drug abuse.
Commending officers and men of the affected commands, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), said the interception of methamphetamine hidden in breakfast cereal packs demonstrated that traffickers could not outsmart the agency through sophisticated concealment methods.
He said the discovery of the firearms factory in Kaduna further underscored the connection between illicit drug activities and violent crime, urging officers nationwide to sustain the momentum in both drug supply reduction and demand reduction.
Marwa stressed that enforcement operations must go hand in hand with public education and community engagement to tackle both the trafficking and consumption of illicit substances.
