A 56-year-old man who has lived in South Africa for more than two decades under a stolen identity has been arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, with 25.05 kilograms of methamphetamine concealed in packs of breakfast cereals.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) also arrested an American professional basketball player over a 33.95kg shipment of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, at the same airport.
Operatives further busted a gun factory in Kaduna and seized tons of illicit drugs in raids across Lagos, Ondo, Delta, Edo and Osun states.
The agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.
The meth suspect, Omokan Isaac Babatope, whose real name is Chinedu Onwude, was arrested on Wednesday 11 November 2026 at the arrival hall of Terminal II upon his return from South Africa.
A search of his two boxes led to the recovery of twenty-five parcels of a white crystalline substance, which tested positive for methamphetamine. The parcels were hidden inside packs of assorted breakfast cereals and cereal-based food products to beat security screening.
He holds Nigerian and South African passports and has lived in South Africa for over 24 years.
He confessed that he adopted his assumed name after using forged documents to enter the country and had used it ever since.
He said a South Africa-based man, Obiora Okoye, hired him to deliver the consignment in Nigeria for 20,000 South African rands.
On the same day, acting on intelligence, operatives intercepted 28-year-old American citizen Greene Da’monte Khiree, who arrived in Lagos on an Emirates flight from Thailand via Dubai. Placed under discreet surveillance, he was seen abandoning his two checked-in bags before trying to leave with only his carry-on luggage. He was arrested at the airport car park.
The abandoned bags, both bearing his name tag, contained sixteen parcels of Loud each, thirty-two in all. A tracking device was also found in them.
The suspect, a native of Savannah, Georgia, said he has lived in Thailand since October 2025, where he plays professional basketball, and that he came to Nigeria on holiday to build networks for his career.
A forensic examination of his phone reportedly pointed to his knowledge of and involvement in the trafficking.
On Tuesday 10 November, operatives arrested 33-year-old Taiwo Adebayo Aderoju at Ebute Metta with 119.71kg of cannabis sativa.
On Saturday 14 November, a joint operation in Ajah recovered 78.8kg of cannabis, skuchies, codeine syrup, Rohypnol, tramadol, nitrous oxide and pregabalin from a silver Toyota Sienna abandoned by a suspect who fled on sighting the operatives.
On Monday 9 November, operatives raided Sabon Garin Kangin in Kaduna State, busting a factory used for the local fabrication of firearms and arresting 45-year-old Sagiru Musa.
Items recovered include seventeen locally made Dane guns, two pistols, twenty-five Dane gun pipes and other materials used in making firearms.
On Friday 13 November, officers on patrol at Jere, along the Abuja-Kaduna expressway, intercepted 31-year-old Tabara Dauda with 196 AK-47 live ammunition and N675,000 cash.
In Sabon Gari LGA, 30-year-old Samson Chibuike Andebe was arrested on 11 November with 3,840 tablets of tramadol 225mg.
On Saturday 14 November, at least 499.3kg of skunk was recovered from Celestine Chime, 34, and Chibueze Christ, 36, when their hideout in Gonin-Gora was raided.
In Ondo State, Victor William, 42, and Akeem Azeez, 27, were arrested on 10
November at Olabi village bush, and 50 bags of cannabis weighing 560kg were recovered from their store.
On 13 November, a raid on a cannabis farm in Ipele forest led to the arrest of Godwin Benson, 30, Muhammed Awwal, 34, and James Timothy, 18, with 122kg of the drug.
In Delta State, 43-year-old Esther Igba was arrested on 12 November at Alihame, Agbor, with 255.670kg of cannabis sativa and 1.5kg of cannabis seeds.
On 10 November, operatives arrested 25-year-old Aaron Thomas, also known as Ibori, at Oguato, Ughelli South LGA, after trailing him for over six months.
Described as a major distributor who runs a notorious bush bar, he had cannabis, codeine syrup, tramadol, swinol and Molly (MDMA).
In Osun State, Eze Chidiebere, 23, and Nwaoge Ugochukwu, 24, were arrested with 86kg of cannabis sativa during a farm destruction operation at Owena Forest Reserve.
In the same reserve, 40-year-old Ugwu Chukwuemeka was arrested with 28kg of dried cannabis and 21kg of fresh leaves, and his 0.855-hectare farm, estimated to hold 2,137.5kg of the plant, was destroyed.
In Edo State, after weeks of surveillance in Benin City, operatives raided Jamila Street, Ikpoba Hill, on 10 November and arrested 39-year-old Blessing Chukwudi with 14kg of Loud, 65 grams of Colorado and 73 grams of methamphetamine.
Commands across the country continued War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities. Lectures were held in schools in Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Plateau and Kano states, while the Ondo command paid an advocacy visit to the Olu of Ilu Abo, Oba Olu Falae.
NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), was quoted in the statement to have commended the officers of the MMIA, Lagos, Kaduna, Ondo, Delta, Osun and Edo Commands for their vigilance and professionalism.
He said the cereal interception shows that no concealment method, however ingenious, can beat the resolve of the Agency’s operatives, and that the Kaduna gun factory bust underscores the link between illicit drugs and violent crime. He charged officers to sustain the tempo of both drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.
