The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has announced a string of major arrests across the country, including the capture of a Chinese businessman, Liang Tak You, and an 80‑year‑old grandmother, Mrs. Grace Ekpeme, in separate anti-narcotics operations.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

According to a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday by the NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the nationwide raids exposed ingenious methods traffickers are using—such as hiding Colorado (a potent synthetic cannabis) in moimoi sachets and concealing Canadian Loud inside imported canned food items.

Babafemi revealed that Liang Tak You, a naturalised Malaysian of Chinese origin, was arrested on Friday at the arrival hall of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. He had arrived from Bangkok via Dubai on an Emirates flight, allegedly carrying two suitcases containing 50 parcels of Loud, weighing 26.10kg. NDLEA operatives, acting on intelligence, monitored his movements from departure and apprehended him after he cleared immigration.

In another operation, 80‑year‑old Grace Ekpeme was arrested in the early hours of Saturday, July 26, at Edet-Nsa Street in Calabar South, Cross River State, with over 3kg of skunk, following credible intelligence on her suspected drug activities.

Also in Lagos, NDLEA officers on Wednesday, July 23, intercepted a suspect, Chidi Agbafo, along the Epe–Ajah Expressway with 21.7kg of Colorado—some ingeniously packaged in moimoi sachets—and 3.8 litres of codeine syrup in a commercial bus heading to Delta State.

At the Apapa seaport, a joint inspection by NDLEA, Customs, and other security agencies uncovered 101kg of Canadian Loud concealed in 202 tins of imported “Bean Salad Mix,” packed inside two Toyota Sienna vehicles shipped from Canada.

On the Abuja–Kaduna highway, operatives arrested Usman Musa on Wednesday, July 23, with 71,000 opioid pills, including tramadol and Exol‑5, in a commercial bus headed to Kano. In Borno, a follow‑up operation in Maiduguri led to the arrest of two suspects, Binta Usman and Bala Abdullahi, after 30.1kg of skunk was recovered from their residence in Muna Moforo.

In Ondo State, three brothers—Nanna, Chizom, and Maxwell Ozirinye—were arrested on Saturday, July 26, during a raid on a cannabis plantation in Bending Corner Forest, Idoani, where 2,500kg of skunk was destroyed and 121.4kg of processed cannabis recovered.

Other notable arrests included:

• Bright Sunday Okon in Edo State with various narcotics, including Colorado and methamphetamine.

• A cache of 105.4kg of skunk abandoned in a Honda car in Nasarawa State.

• Bashir Abdullahi in Minna, Niger State, with 6,400 tramadol pills.

• Jamiu Omolaja in Ifo, Ogun State, with 113kg of skunk after violent resistance from his gang.

• Adamu Adamu, a.k.a. Dankyado, in Gombe State with 10,910 tramadol capsules.

• A suspect, Kindness Bala, arrested in Abuja after a Kogi operation intercepted skunk hidden in garri and dried leaves, intended for onward shipment to Katsina and Qatar.

• In Kogi’s Ayingba area, officers recovered 23,600 tramadol pills, 300 pentazocine ampoules, and 700g of skunk from a truck at a motor park.

Beyond enforcement, Babafemi noted that NDLEA continues to drive advocacy through its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign, holding sensitisation sessions in schools across Oyo, Ebonyi, Sokoto, Lagos, and paying courtesy visits to traditional leaders in Anambra.

Commending officers across the MMIA, Apapa, Lagos, Cross River, Edo, Ondo, Nasarawa, Borno, Niger, Ogun, Gombe, Kaduna, and Kogi commands, NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), praised the agency’s sustained balance between drug supply reduction and demand reduction efforts nationwide.