LAGOS, Nigeria (Chatnewstv.com) — Nigeria’s anti-drug agency has dismantled two major cocaine cartels, arresting an alleged kingpin and five others accused of smuggling narcotics to the United Kingdom by concealing them in stainless steel cups, body cream, and hair gel containers, authorities announced Sunday.
In a series of intelligence-led operations spanning three weeks across the commercial hub of Lagos, operatives seized a total of 20.5 kilograms (about 45 pounds) of cocaine from six different shipments bound for the U.K.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, or NDLEA, identified the suspected arrowhead of one syndicate as Alhaji Hammed Taofeek Ode, a businessman and real estate developer who had previously lived in Europe for 27 years.
The investigation began on Sept. 16 when officers at Lagos’s Murtala Muhammed International Airport intercepted 174 parcels of cocaine weighing 13.4 kilograms hidden within the walls of cocoa butter body cream containers.
“Further investigations revealed Alhaji Hammed Taofeek Ode as the mastermind of the shipment,” the NDLEA said in a statement. He was taken into custody after weeks of surveillance.
During his preliminary interview, Ode allegedly admitted ownership of the consignment, claiming he bought it for over 150 million naira.
In a separate but related series of busts, the agency thwarted five other attempts to export cocaine to the U.K. by another criminal group. The unravelling of that gang started on Sept. 26 with the seizure of cocaine concealed in hair cream containers.
That led to the arrest of a furniture maker, Smith David Korede, who was linked to three separate consignments. Two other suspects were arrested on Oct. 2 in connection with two additional shipments where cocaine was hidden among crayfish and inside stainless cups and hair cream jars.
The Lagos busts were part of a wider nationwide crackdown. In the southern states of Edo and Osun, the agency said its operatives located and destroyed cannabis plantations totaling nearly 25,000 kilograms (about 55,000 pounds) of the substance known locally as skunk.
NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) praised the operations and warned trafficking networks that the agency’s efforts would not cease.
“We’ll continue to target and dismantle every identified drug cartel at every level of their operations; from the mules to the dealers in between and up to their leadership,” Marwa said.
“These successful operations should serve as a warning that NDLEA will not relent until the threat posed by the menace of substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking is eliminated.”
Editor: Gabriel Ani
