The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested an Indian businessman, Gupta Ravi Kumar, and three Nigerians in connection with a ₦3.9 billion tramadol shipment intercepted at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
The drugs, disguised as multivitamins, were smuggled in from India and seized during the agency’s nationwide crackdown on illicit substances.
Indian businessman, accomplices arrested
According to NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, operatives had been monitoring the suspicious consignment before swooping in on September 11. Two drivers and a clearing agent were first caught attempting to move the drugs out of the airport.
A follow-up operation led to the arrest of Kumar, who tried to take delivery of the shipment, and three Nigerians identified as Ogunlana Olanrewaju, Olushola Kayode, and Bakare Muheeb.
Babafemi confirmed that the consignment, imported from Delhi on Ethiopian Airlines, was worth nearly ₦4 billion in street value.
More arrests across the country
The Lagos bust was not the only operation. At the same airport, NDLEA officials also caught a first-time traveller, Onyeganochi Stanley Ifeanyi, with skunk hidden in crayfish. His partner, Ohadiegwu Anthony Uchenna, was later arrested at a nearby hotel with more drugs.
Elsewhere in Lagos, officers seized over 81 kilograms of Canadian Loud and hashish oil at Tincan Port, while another 65 kilograms of cannabis was intercepted on Third Mainland Bridge. Several suspects linked to these shipments were detained.
The agency also uncovered a factory in Ikorodu producing “skuchies,” a cocktail of cannabis and black currant drink, seizing thousands of bottles and tonnes of cannabis.
Nationwide crackdown intensifies
The NDLEA said raids across multiple states led to more seizures and arrests. In Kano, 100,000 tramadol pills and other substances were recovered, while in Anambra, a couple was arrested with large quantities of methamphetamine and skunk.
In Edo State, nearly 17 tonnes of cannabis were destroyed at a plantation, while more bags of processed drugs were seized with suspects arrested. Similar arrests were made in Oyo, Yobe, Ogun, and Abuja.
The NDLEA stressed that foreign nationals have increasingly been caught in the drug trade in Nigeria, raising concerns about international trafficking networks.