The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a Chinese businessman and an 80-year-old grandmother, among other suspects, in a series of nationwide operations that led to the seizure of large consignments of synthetic cannabis strains—Colorado and Loud—concealed in food items such as moimoi sachets and canned goods imported from Canada.
The Chinese national, identified as Liang Tak You, was apprehended at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, on Friday, July 25, 2025. NDLEA operatives, acting on intelligence, intercepted Liang after he arrived from Bangkok via Dubai on an Emirates flight. He was reportedly in possession of two suitcases containing 50 parcels of Loud, weighing 26.10kg, picked up in Thailand.
In Cross River State, operatives arrested an 80-year-old woman, Mrs. Grace Ekpeme, in Calabar South, where over 3kg of skunk was recovered from her residence on Saturday, July 26, following credible intelligence.
In Lagos, on July 23, NDLEA officers intercepted a commercial bus along the Epe-Ajah expressway. The suspect, Chidi Agbafo, was found transporting 21.7kg of Colorado packaged in moimoi sachets and 3.8 litres of codeine-based syrup bound for Warri and Oghara in Delta State.
At the Apapa Seaport, 101kg of Loud was discovered packed in 202 cans labeled ‘Bean Salad Mix’, hidden in two Toyota Sienna buses inside a container from Canada. The bust was carried out during a joint examination with Customs and other security agencies.
Nationwide, NDLEA carried out several other successful operations:
- On the Abuja-Kaduna highway, 71,000 pills of opioids were seized from Usman Musa.
- In Maiduguri, Borno State, 30.1kg of skunk was found in the residence of Binta Usman, with her accomplice Bala Abdullahi arrested two days later.
- In Idoani, Ondo State, three brothers—Nanna, Chizom, and Maxwell Ozirinye—were caught on a cannabis plantation where 2,500kg of skunk was destroyed, and 121.4kg of processed cannabis recovered.
- In Edo, Bright Sunday Okon was arrested with various cannabis strains and methamphetamine in Benin City.
- An abandoned car in Keffi, Nasarawa, yielded 105.4kg of skunk.
- In Minna, Niger State, Bashir Abdullahi was arrested with 6,400 pills of tramadol.
- Ogun State operatives arrested notorious dealer Jamiu Omolaja after resistance from his gang, recovering 113kg of skunk.
- In Gombe, Adamu Adamu (alias Dankyado) was caught with over 10,900 tramadol capsules.
- In Kogi, skunk concealed in garri and dried scent leaves was intercepted, leading to the arrest of Kindness Bala in Abuja. Another bust in Ayingba retrieved 23,600 tramadol pills, pentazocine injections, and skunk.
NDLEA also continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) initiative, hosting sensitization lectures across schools in Oyo, Ebonyi, Sokoto, and Lagos States, and visiting traditional rulers in Anambra.
Commending the success of the week-long operations, NDLEA Chairman/CEO, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), praised officers across multiple state commands for their dual efforts in curbing drug supply and driving public awareness on drug demand reduction.
Femi Babafemi
Director, Media & Advocacy
NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja
