The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a Lagos-based businessman, Onuigbo Ndubisi Chinedu, over an alleged attempt to export cocaine concealed in cartons of food items destined for the United Kingdom, as the agency recorded a string of major drug seizures and arrests across Nigeria.
Chinedu, 55, who trades in clothing at the popular Balogun Market on Lagos Island, was apprehended on Thursday, July 23, 2026, after NDLEA operatives linked him to a consignment containing 3.30 kilogrammes of cocaine hidden inside the walls of cartons used to package foodstuffs for export.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by the NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the illicit shipment was intercepted a day earlier, on Wednesday, July 22, at the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
Investigations initially led to the arrest of three cargo agents identified as Nkwor Onyekachukwu Justina, Adeleke Abiola Taoheed and Ukanwa Grace Pilgrim, who handled the shipment.
Their interrogation subsequently led operatives to arrest Kenneth Okakpu, who delivered the consignment for processing.
NDLEA said information obtained from Okakpu enabled investigators to identify Chinedu as the alleged mastermind of the trafficking syndicate.
He was eventually arrested while allegedly attempting to dispatch another cocaine shipment to the UK.
In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives arrested 31-year-old entrepreneur Emmanuella Chukwu-Edo at her residence in Surulere, Lagos, on Tuesday, July 21, following the interception of her consignment containing 2.80 kilogrammes of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis.
The shipment had arrived from the United States aboard a United Airlines flight on Monday, July 20.
The agency also announced the interception of 2,240,000 pills of Tapentadol 250mg with an estimated street value exceeding ₦2.2 billion during a joint examination of cargo from India at the Lagos airport on Friday, July 24.
It said the shipment arrived aboard an Air Maroc flight and was intercepted following actionable intelligence processed by the NDLEA.
The seizure came shortly after operatives uncovered another consignment of tramadol concealed inside containers of black soap intended for export to the United Kingdom.
That shipment was intercepted at a Lagos courier company on Wednesday, July 22.
At the Apapa Seaport in Lagos, NDLEA officers also uncovered a container carrying three vehicles used to conceal 4,777 sachets of Canadian Loud weighing 2,388.5 kilogrammes.
The agency estimated the seized drugs to have a street value of more than ₦7.1 billion.
NDLEA said it continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign across the country, conducting sensitisation programmes in schools, places of worship, workplaces and communities.
Among the institutions visited during the past week were Government Day Secondary School, Sabon Wuse, Niger State; Government Girls Secondary School, Shekara, Kano State; and Otto Primary School, Ebute Metta, Lagos.
Commending officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) as well as commands in Lagos, Apapa, Edo, Kaduna and Katsina, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), urged personnel nationwide to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug supply reduction and public awareness.
