Lagos Trader Nabbed by NDLEA Over Cocaine Export to UK

In a major breakthrough, operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have apprehended a 55-year-old Lagos-based businessman, Onuigbo Ndubisi Chinedu, for allegedly attempting to export 3.30 kilograms of cocaine to the United Kingdom. The cocaine was cleverly concealed within the walls of cartons used for packaging food items. Chinedu, who trades in clothing at the popular Balogun Market on Lagos Island, was arrested on Thursday, July 23, 2026, following the interception of the cocaine shipment at the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos a day earlier. According to the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, three cargo agents - Nkwor Onyekachukwu Justina, Adeleke Abiola Taoheed, and Ukanwa Grace Pilgrim - were initially arrested for handling the consignment, which ultimately led to Chinedu's arrest. In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives arrested 31-year-old entrepreneur Emmanuella Chukwu-Edo after intercepting her 2.80-kilogram consignment of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis. Furthermore, at the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives recovered 2.24 million pills of Tapentadol 250mg, valued at over N2.2 billion on the streets, from a shipment that arrived from India aboard an Air Maroc flight. Additionally, at the Apapa Seaport in Lagos, NDLEA officers uncovered 4,777 sachets of Canadian Loud weighing 2,388.5 kilograms, with an estimated street value of over N7.1 billion, hidden inside three vehicles in a shipping container. In Katsina State, NDLEA operatives arrested 30-year-old Mustapha Sani after recovering 323 rounds of military-grade ammunition concealed on him. Another suspect, Abubakar Amadu, 30, was arrested with 73 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition hidden inside kegs of red oil. Both suspects have been handed over to the relevant security agency for further investigation. In Edo State, operatives raided a warehouse, recovering 1,286 kilograms of cannabis and 86 kilograms of cannabis seeds. The agency also arrested Ojore Onweze, 45, with 60 kilograms of skunk, and George Agwumede, 30, with 13 kilograms of the same substance.