NDLEA seizes heroin, cannabis hidden in lamps, sofa legs at Lagos Airport

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested Ejiofor Nnaemeka Chiwuzie, an auto parts dealer, for attempting to export heroin and loud (a potent strain of cannabis) concealed in LED lamps and metal sofa legs through Lagos’s Murtala Muhammed International Airport.

Chiwuzie, apprehended on September 24, 2024, at the Trade Fair Complex in Ojo, Lagos, was linked to a cargo shipment destined for Liberia. Inside the LED lamps and sofa legs, officers discovered 37 parcels of heroin weighing 1.1 kilograms and four blocks of loud weighing 1.2 kilograms.

The arrest followed a coordinated operation that led to the apprehension of two freight agents involved in the shipment. In addition to this, NDLEA also foiled multiple attempts to export drugs like tramadol, pentazocine, and other opioids through courier companies to destinations including the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Thailand.

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The seizures included 2.3 kilograms of loud, 749 grams of tramadol hidden in footwear, and 60 ampoules of pentazocine.

In another major development, a drug kingpin, Ajiboye Damilare Samuel, alias “Na God,” was arrested on September 25, 2024, after evading authorities for over a year. His arrest followed a previous raid on his warehouse, which uncovered over 1,101 kilograms of Ghana loud in Lagos.

Further arrests included community leader Alhaji Bashir Mohammed Talba in Badagry, where his wives and son were found in possession of 226.2 kilograms of cannabis.

NDLEA operatives also seized drugs in other states such as Kogi, Cross River, and Plateau, while intercepting 71 bags of cannabis weighing nearly 3,000 kilograms from a boat in Lekki, Lagos.

Chairman of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the officers involved in the operations for their efforts in dismantling these drug networks.

He also praised the agency’s ongoing War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign, which has involved sensitization lectures across schools, workplaces, and communities nationwide, aiming to curb the growing menace of drug abuse in the country.