ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled a major opioid trafficking network and seized large quantities of illicit drugs concealed inside building materials in Taraba State, while carrying out coordinated arrests of suspects across six states.
The anti-narcotics agency said the nationwide operation led to the arrest of several suspects, including a 75-year-old man in Ebonyi State and a number of female drug dealers in Edo State.
According to the NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, operatives recorded a significant breakthrough in Taraba on Saturday, June 6, 2026, following intelligence that uncovered a truck transporting building materials from Onitsha, Anambra State, to Jalingo, the Taraba State capital.
Babafemi explained that the truck was intercepted and searched at the Nukkai Timber Shade in Jalingo, where operatives discovered a large cache of illicit substances hidden beneath the cargo. A 22-year-old suspect, Buhari Abdullahi, was arrested in connection with the consignment.
Recovered items included 320,840 capsules of tramadol, 600 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 4,500 tablets of rohypnol, and 299 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup.
In Ebonyi State, NDLEA operatives arrested 75-year-old Okebe Samuel in Okposi after he was found with 300 grams of skunk allegedly packaged for street-level distribution.
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In a separate operation in Imo State, officers raided a known drug hotspot in Umulolo, Orlu, where they arrested 32-year-old Chioma Okeke and recovered eight kilograms of skunk.
The agency also carried out a series of raids across Benin City, Edo State, on Tuesday, June 2, leading to the arrest of four suspects, three of whom were women.
At Uyosa in Benin City, operatives arrested Chioma Igba, 24, and Precious Ozomah, 22, with quantities of skunk, Loud and methamphetamine.
Another suspect, Anita Abraham, 21, was apprehended along Agbor Road with substances identified as Loud variants, while Henry Okey, 43, was arrested at Upper Mission with various psychotropic substances.
In Kano State, NDLEA operatives arrested 19-year-old Saifullahi Lawan on Thursday, June 4, in the Kafi area of Madobi. He was allegedly found in possession of 40 blocks of skunk weighing 38 kilograms.
Meanwhile, in Gombe State, officers intercepted 28-year-old Ugwu Sabastine Ifebuchi near Dantiti Plaza in Tumfure on Monday, June 1, with 15,000 capsules of tramadol.
Beyond enforcement activities, the NDLEA said its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy campaign remains active across the country. The agency disclosed that sensitisation programmes were recently conducted in schools in Oyo, Lagos, Anambra and Kano states, among others.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended officers and personnel involved in the operations, describing their efforts as a demonstration of the agency’s sustained commitment to reducing both the supply and demand for illicit drugs.
Marwa reaffirmed the agency’s determination to dismantle drug trafficking networks nationwide, stressing that neither the age nor gender of suspects, nor the methods used to conceal illegal substances, would deter the agency from pursuing offenders.