LAGOS, Nigeria (Chatnewstv.com) — Nigeria’s anti-narcotics agency has arrested a 39-year-old woman accused of leading a cocaine trafficking syndicate, seizing 23.5 kilograms of the drug concealed in her children’s room in Lagos, as authorities announced a string of nationwide drug busts targeting cocaine, opioids and cannabis, authorities said Sunday.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency said Shodunke Yetunde Simbiat, described as a key stash keeper for a trans-border cocaine cartel, was arrested Tuesday at her home in Surulere, Lagos, after months of surveillance. Officers recovered the cocaine from a black suitcase hidden in the children’s room, the agency said.
“She admitted ownership of the drug consignment,” NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi said in a statement, adding that the seizure has an estimated street value of more than 5 billion naira (about $5.5 million).
The arrest follows the May 2024 bust of an alleged cartel led by a married couple, Bolanle Lookman Dauda and Olayinka Toheebat Dauda, who were intercepted along the Lagos–Badagry Expressway while attempting to cross into Ghana. NDLEA said 47.5 kilograms of cocaine were found on the couple at the time, with a further 10 kilograms recovered from their residence in Ogun state, bringing the total to 57.5 kilograms.
In a separate operation at Lagos’ Murtala Muhammed International Airport, NDLEA officers intercepted a 36-year-old businessman, Nwanwene Robinson Destiny, as he attempted to board a Royal Air Maroc flight to Milan, Italy. Babafemi said officers found 1,020 pills of tramadol and tapentadol concealed in his luggage.
“He claimed that the successful trafficking of the opioids to Italy would have fetched him €200 from the recipient,” Babafemi said.
At the Seme border near Badagry, NDLEA officers arrested a 48-year-old Beninese national, Leocardi Josu, with 3,400 tablets of tramadol. Elsewhere, along the Okene–Lokoja highway, officers seized 28.4 kilograms of cannabis from a suspect, Abdullahi Adamu.
In Oyo state, NDLEA said it recovered 125,000 tramadol capsules and 1,800 ampoules of pentazocine from a bus on the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway, and arrested two men with 185.4 kilograms of cannabis at a motor park in Ibadan. Additional raids in Osun state led to the seizure of 405 kilograms of cannabis from a forest camp, while another suspect was arrested along the Abuja–Kaduna highway with nearly 15,000 tramadol pills hidden in sacks of kola nuts.
Commending officers involved in the operations, NDLEA Chairman Mohamed Buba Marwa urged heightened vigilance during the festive season.
“I enjoin officers across the country to remain extra vigilant and maintain the highest standards of professionalism in both drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction activities,” Marwa said.
The agency also said it continued its War Against Drug Abuse campaign nationwide, conducting sensitization programs in schools, religious centers and communities over the past week.
