The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled two major cross-border drug trafficking syndicates, seizing cocaine and opioids worth billions of naira, officials said on Sunday.
Six cartel leaders were arrested across Nigeria in a sweeping crackdown following months of intelligence operations.
NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi said in a statement that the arrests were the result of extensive surveillance targeting Nigerian and Cameroonian traffickers suspected of supplying drugs to terror groups in Nigeria and Cameroon.
Those apprehended include Ibrahim Bawuro, Najib Ibrahim, Ibrahim Umar, Nelson Udechukwu, Ezeh Amaechi, and Adejumo Ishola, all leaders in their respective networks. According to Babafemi, the syndicates were active in Mubi, Adamawa State; Onitsha, Anambra State; Lagos State; and various locations near the Nigeria-Cameroon border.
Investigations revealed that psychoactive substances, including tramadol, were frequently sourced from a notorious Onitsha supplier, Nelson Udechukwu, before being transported in hidden compartments to other parts of Nigeria and Cameroon.
Babafemi detailed a significant operation on October 7, where Bawuro and Ibrahim were trailed from Onitsha and eventually arrested in Taraba State, yielding 276,500 tramadol pills.
In coordinated follow-up operations, NDLEA officers apprehended associates Amaechi and Udechukwu in Anambra and Delta States.
In a separate raid, another cartel leader, 37-year-old Ishola Adejumo, was arrested on November 5 at Lagos’s Seme border, carrying 3.3 kilograms of cocaine and 600 grams of synthetic cannabis.
Adejumo’s apprehension followed months of surveillance on his activities between Nigeria and Ghana.
Meanwhile, NDLEA’s nationwide efforts to combat drug abuse continue with the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign, including sensitization sessions in schools, workplaces, and communities.
NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa praised personnel for their intensified advocacy, calling it essential to curbing drug abuse and trafficking.
