NDLEA Intercepts Cocaine Concealed In Lipsticks, Property Title Documents
By Anne Osemekeh, Abuja
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted cocaine consignments concealed in lipsticks and property title documents.
NDLEA’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this on Sunday, saying that the consignments were bound for the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia respectively.
The illicit drug consignments were recovered from cargos being prepared for shipment at a courier company in Lagos on Thursday 3rd July 2025 by NDLEA officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) attached to the logistics firm.
A total of 420grams of cocaine factory fitted in 84 pieces of female lipsticks heading to the UK were seized, while 280grams of the same Class A drug were uncovered in a property title document (Certificate of Occupancy, C of O) being sent to Saudi Arabia.
In another development, a notorious drug kingpin Ajetsibo Emami popularly known as ‘Warri Kinsman’ was on Saturday 28th June arrested in Ikeja Lagos after NDLEA operatives dismantled his drug trafficking network in a three-day operation leading to the arrest of three other suspects.
Recovered from Emami’s network were 24 jumbo bags containing 681 pouches of Canadian Loud, a strain of cannabis weighing 414.2 kilograms.
Babafemi disclosed that the bust of Emami’s drug ring followed credible intelligence on his attempt to move the shipment to Lekki area of Lagos, from where it will be distributed to other parts of the state and across the country.
Furthermore, a businessman, Ajah Johnson Uchenna and his wife Rosemary Uchenna along with their two daughters: Stella Uchenna and Ngozi Uchenna as well as their family friend Okoro Elijah have been taken into custody after investigation revealed they run a major illicit drug distribution network in Lagos.
The couple was first arrested on Friday 13th June by operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS) in Ojo area of the state and transferred to NDLEA along with 277.5kg skunk.
While they were still being investigated in custody, credible intelligence revealed that the family business was going on in his house. This led to a raid of their home and a packing store where 231kg of same substance was recovered on Tuesday 1st July. Three persons arrested during the raid include their two daughters: Ngozi Uchenna and Blessing Uchenna as well as their family friend Okoro Elijah, who were running the family business in the absence of the couple.
Also, a frequent flyer, Aburemi Hysent, who specialises in conveying goods for customers from Nigeria to Italy and vice versa, was found to have hidden 7,660 pills of tramadol 225mg and 200mg inside food items packed among other goods he was conveying to Italy.
Upon his arrest by NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja Lagos, on Wednesday 2nd July, Aburemi claimed he was to be paid the sum of 800 euros after successful delivery of the drug consignment in Italy.
In another interdiction operation at the Lagos airport, a total of 52 pieces of travelers cheques, suspected to be counterfeit and concealed in children books, worth 17,700,000 Australian dollars were intercepted by operatives.
The children books were being shipped to Malaysia through Istanbul on a Turkish Airlines flight on Friday 4th July when they were intercepted at the export shed of the airport. A freight agent, Bolarinwa Saheed, was arrested and will be transferred to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), for further investigation.
While NDLEA operatives on patrol along Abuja-Kaduna expressway recovered 11,000 pills of tramadol 225mg from Sule Ibrahim Sadiq, 30, on Thursday 3rd July, their counterparts in Sokoto arrested 62-year-old Joseph Onungene in connection with the seizure of 4,800 pills of tramadol 225m.
In Kebbi state, operatives raided Bakin Kasuwa Yauri base where they seized 312kg skunk and 10,000 tabs of diazepam. The duo of Chigbo Okolo, 52, and Ishaku Musa, 28, were on Saturday 5th July arrested with 49,930 capsules of tramadol, at Mallum, Ardo- Kola local council area of Taraba state.
In Edo state, NDLEA operatives raided the Ewere forest in Owan West LGA where they arrested a wanted suspect, Alaba Monday, 49, in one of his cannabis farms with 115kg of processed skunk, while three other suspects: Shamsu Abdullahi; Peter Egboko; and Justin John were nabbed in another farm measuring 2.050201 hectares.
Also, a 78-year-old suspect Mike Abeng, was arrested with 14.49kg skunk and tramadol during a raid by NDLEA operatives at Ofudua, Obubra LGA, Cross River state. Others nabbed with different quantities of illicit substances during the operation include: Oyom Akam, 50; Sylvester Odem, 40; and Moses Ayo, 50, apprehended at Ovonum, Obubra LGA.
