By Gabriel Ani
ABUJA, Nigeria (Chatnewstv.com) — Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has intercepted illicit drugs concealed in coffee sachets bound for the United Kingdom and Zambia and detained 22 Indian nationals after seizing 31.5 kilograms of cocaine aboard a foreign vessel at Lagos’ Apapa port, the agency said Sunday.
NDLEA operatives recovered quantities of ketamine, ecstasy and tramadol pills hidden in sachets of coffee mix and a book parcel at a courier company in Lagos on Dec. 24 and Dec. 29, 2025, the agency said.
The seizures coincided with the arrest of the crew of the merchant vessel MV Aruna Hulya, where 31.5 kilograms of cocaine were found in hatch three during a search at the GDNL terminal, Apapa, on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. The ship, which originated from the Marshall Islands, was crewed by 22 Indians, all of whom were taken into custody.
Those detained include the vessel’s master, Sharma Shashi Bhushan, and 21 crew members, the agency said.
In a separate operation in southwestern Oyo state, NDLEA officers arrested a wanted female drug kingpin, Fatima Ilori, 65, popularly known as “Mama Kerosine,” following the seizure of 238.4 kilograms of skunk, a potent strain of cannabis, linked to her distribution network in Ibadan.
Ilori was arrested on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, in an intelligence-led operation at the Onireke–Elekuro area of Ibadan, alongside another female suspect, Olusanya Abosede, 35, NDLEA said.
In Nigeria’s northeast, the agency said it disrupted drug supply lines to insurgents in Borno state with the arrest of two suspected suppliers on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. Isa Mohammed, 26, was arrested along the Maiduguri–Gamboru Ngala road with 9,150 ampoules of tramadol injection, while Musa Samaila, 30, was apprehended at Biu market with 34,000 tramadol capsules.
Additional seizures were recorded across the country. In Lagos, officers recovered about 400 kilograms of skunk and a van at the Mobolaji Johnson area on New Year’s Day. In Jigawa state, a suspect, Bilya Ibrahim, 39, was arrested on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025, at a motor park in Hadejia with 260 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 140.8 kilograms, allegedly being transported from Taraba state to Yobe.
In north-central Kwara state, NDLEA officers on Dec. 30 recovered 238.5 kilograms of skunk from a suspect’s residence in the Asadam area of Ilorin. Another suspect, Abubakar Rabiu, 32, was arrested at Bode Saadu in Moro local government area on Dec. 31 with 32,000 pills of tramadol and diazepam, the agency said.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.) commended officers involved in the operations and urged them to sustain the crackdown.
“The successes recorded are a testament to the commitment and professionalism of our officers,” Marwa said, calling for intensified drug control efforts nationwide.
The agency also said its commands continued public sensitization under the War Against Drug Abuse campaign, with outreach programs held in schools, religious centers and communities across several states in the past week.
