The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested an Indian businessman, Gupta Ravi Kumar, along with three accomplices — Ogunlana Olanrewaju, Olushola Kayode, and Bakare Muheeb — in connection with a tramadol consignment worth over ₦3.9 billion intercepted at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
The NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, disclosed the development in a statement on Sunday.
According to him, the illicit shipment was imported from India under the guise of multivitamins before NDLEA operatives, who had been monitoring the consignment, moved in on September 11 to arrest a clearing agent and two drivers attempting to move it out of the airport in two trucks.
He stated, “The tramadol shipment worth ₦3,990,000,000 in street value was imported from Delhi, India, disguised as multivitamins in 114 cartons, and arrived at the import shed of the Lagos airport on an Ethiopian Airlines flight on Monday, 8 September 2025.”
Following the interception, a follow-up operation on September 12 led to the arrest of Gupta as he attempted to take delivery of the consignment.
Babafemi also revealed that, on September 7, NDLEA operatives at Terminal 2 of the same airport intercepted Onyeganochi Stanley Ifeanyi, a first-time traveller en route to Doha on Qatar Airways. A search of his bag uncovered 900 grams of skunk hidden in crayfish.
Ifeanyi implicated Ohadiegwu Anthony Uchenna, a Qatar-based Nigerian who had escorted him to the airport. Uchenna was immediately arrested, and a subsequent search of his hotel room in Ajao Estate uncovered another 200 grams of the drug. He confessed that he planned to retrieve the bag in Doha if Ifeanyi evaded detection.
At the Tincan Port in Lagos, NDLEA operatives in a joint operation on September 9 recovered 81.7 kilograms of Canadian Loud and 1.2 kilograms of hashish oil concealed in a 40-foot container of vehicle spare parts imported from Montreal, Canada. “Two suspects, John Ochigbo, 53, and Okeke Kingsley, 26, were detained,” Babafemi said.
In another operation, officers tracked a separate 65-kilogram Canadian Loud consignment to Third Mainland Bridge, where they intercepted a Toyota Sienna vehicle and arrested its driver, Abubakar Ibrahim, 42, on September 11.
The statement continued, “Another shipment of Canadian Loud with a total weight of 65kg was tracked from the port to Third Mainland Bridge, where NDLEA operatives intercepted a Toyota Sienna vehicle conveying the consignment, recovered it, and arrested the driver, Abubakar Ibrahim, 42, on Thursday, September 11.”
Babafemi also confirmed that NDLEA officers seized two shipments at courier companies in Lagos — six grams of methamphetamine hidden in a picture frame bound for Gabon, and 1.1 kilograms of Loud concealed in video players destined for the United Arab Emirates.
In Ikorodu, Lagos, operatives raided a factory producing skuchies, a cocktail of cannabis and blackcurrant drink, seizing 6,029 bottles and 4,232 kilograms of cannabis, while arresting the factory manager, Joy Awosika, and another suspect, Akeem Oriola, found in Mushin with 26 kilograms of skunk.
Further arrests and seizures included:
Abuja: A dispatch rider, Godsplan Vincent, 29, caught with 50.7 grams of cocaine and 66 grams of Loud on September 11.
Oyo State: Three women — Faidat Azeez, 25; Alanu Fatimoh, 40; and Mojeed Taiwo, 25 — arrested with 17 kilograms of skunk.
Kano: Seizure of 100,000 tramadol pills, 196 litres of Akuskura, and 34.1 kilograms of skunk from three suspects between September 8 and 11.
Anambra: A couple, Nzube Onyedika, 41, and Ebele Onyedika, 42, arrested with 13.9 kilograms of methamphetamine and 5.3 kilograms of skunk. Another suspect, Nnamchi Tochukwu, 36, was detained with assorted hard drugs.
Yobe: Mohammed Auwal arrested with 22.1 kilograms of cannabis.
Ogun: Three traffickers — Kunyadi Kunle Ogbungbun, 24; Olalekan Adewale, 20; and Sanya Joshua, 22 — nabbed with 394 kilograms of skunk in Imeko, alongside the seizure of three motorcycles.
Edo State: NDLEA destroyed a 6.78-hectare cannabis plantation at Ugbogyi Forest, Ovia South West LGA, and seized 1,176 kilograms of processed cannabis, arresting four suspects.
The arrest of foreign nationals for drug trafficking in Nigeria continues to raise concerns. In October 2024, a Federal High Court in Lagos sentenced a 41-year-old Canadian, Adrienne Munju, to 11 years imprisonment or an option of a ₦100 million fine after she was convicted of importing 35.2 kilograms of Canadian Loud into Nigeria.
Experts warn that while prosecutions are ongoing, stricter penalties may be necessary to deter other offenders.