NDLEA Arrest Indian Businessman, Three Others Over N3.9Bn Tramadol
By Anne Osemekeh, Abuja
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested an Indian businessman in connection with the seizure of 2,248,000 pills of tramadol 200mg/225mg.
Disclosing this in a statement on Sunday, the anti-narcotics agency’s spokesman, Mr. Femi Babafemi, said that the consignment, worth N3,990,000,000 in street value and intercepted at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja Lagos, was imported from Delhi, India disguised as multi-vitamins in 114 cartons and arrived the import shed of the Lagos airport on an on Ethiopian Airline flight on Monday 8th September 2025.
A team of NDLEA officers who had put the consignment under surveillance however swooped on a clearing agent and two drivers who were trying to move the shipment out of the airport in two trucks on Thursday 11th September.
Kumar’s accomplices, identified as Ogunlana Noah Olanrewaju, Olushola Idrees Kayode and Bakare Korede Muheeb were also arrested.
“A follow up operation the following day, Friday, led to the arrest of the Indian businessman Gupta Ravi Kumar, when he was trying to take delivery of the consignment”, Babafemi stated.
At the terminal 2 departure gate of the airport, NDLEA operatives on Sunday 7th September intercepted a passenger, Onyeganochi Stanley Ifeanyi travelling on a Qatar Airline flight to Doha. A search of his bag led to the recovery of 900grams of skunk, a strain of cannabis concealed in crayfish.
As a first-time traveler, Onyeganochi claimed the bag was given to him to help take to Doha by a Qatar-based Nigerian Ohadiegwu Anthony Uchenna who actually followed him to the airport.
Onyeganochi’s confession led to the arrest of Uchenna who was still within view. Operatives who later conducted a search of Uchenna’s hotel room in Ajao estate discovered additional 200grams of the same psychoactive substance.
He claimed he was to return to Doha days later and pick the bag from the unsuspecting Onyeganochi if he had succeeded escaping security checks.
At the Tincan port in Lagos, a total of 161 parcels of Canadian Loud, a strain of cannabis weighing 81.7kg and 1.2kg hashish oil were recovered from a 40ft container of vehicle spare parts and used vehicles imported from Montreal Canada during a joint examination of the shipment on Tuesday 9th September.
Following the recovery, two suspects: John Ochigbo, 53, and Okeke Kingsley, 26, have been taken into custody in connection with the seizure.
In Anambra state, a couple, Nzube Onyedika, 41, and Ebele Onyedika, 42, were arrested during a raid operation at Obosi where 13.9kg Methamphetamine and 5.3kg skunk were recovered from them while various quantities of meth, tramadol, swinol, heroin and skunk were seized from another suspect Nnamchi Tochukwu, 36.
In like manner, 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.
These include: WADA sensitization lecture to drivers at Onitsha South Motors park, Enugu North, Enugu state; Islamic faithful at Otu Central Mosque, Otu, Oyo state; students and staff of Salamah International School, Malumfashi, Katsina; Islamic faithful at Wawa Central Mosque, Wawa town, Niger state, while the Ogun state command of NDLEA paid a WADA advocacy visit to the Osile Oke-Ona Egba, Oba Adedapo Adewale Tejuosho, Karounwi III, among others.
While commending the officers and men of MMIA, DOGI, Tincan, and other commands that recorded seizures and arrests, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) enjoined them and their colleagues across the country to continue with the ongoing balanced approach to the drug control efforts of the Agency.
