The Nigerian anti-narcotics authority, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA has intercepted 1.63 million tramadol pills concealed in two cargo trucks linked to a transnational trafficking syndicate operating across Togo, Benin Republic and Nigeria, marking a major breakthrough in efforts to dismantle cross-border drug networks in West Africa.
The seizures were made in intelligence-led operations by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), just days after officers recovered another 558,900 tramadol pills hidden in a separate truck travelling along the same Togo-Benin-Nigeria route. Investigators said all three consignments were traced to the same trafficking syndicate.
One of the trailers, which was heading to Kano in northern Nigeria, was intercepted on July 2 along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. Officers discovered 853,000 tramadol 250mg pills hidden in a specially constructed compartment beneath the cargo floor and arrested the 22-year-old driver, Jabir Kabiru.
A second truck was tracked and stopped on the same route two days later. NDLEA operatives recovered an additional 777,000 tramadol pills concealed in a similar compartment and arrested the driver, 22-year-old Muhammed Nuhu.
The operation underscores growing concerns over the trafficking of tramadol, a prescription opioid widely abused across parts of West Africa and increasingly linked to organised crime, addiction and insecurity.
In a separate operation, NDLEA officers at Lagos’ Murtala Muhammed International Airport intercepted two consignments of “Canadian Loud,” a potent synthetic cannabis strain, weighing a combined 4.7 kilograms. The shipments arrived from Canada on British Airways and Ethiopian Airlines flights and were concealed in cartons marked “Odugwu.”
Investigators arrested cargo agents Ali Rotimi Samson and Orimolade Oluwagbenga, followed by Edeh Onyeamachi Stanislus, who allegedly attempted to collect the packages. Further investigations led to the arrest of 44-year-old businesswoman Chioma Nneka Mokeme, identified by authorities as the owner of the consignments. According to NDLEA, she told investigators that a friend based in Canada introduced her to the illicit trade.
Elsewhere, authorities arrested an 80-year-old man, Chika Ugwoji, in Rivers State after allegedly finding him in possession of 800 grams of skunk, a strain of cannabis. In neighbouring Edo State, a husband and wife were arrested following a raid on a suspected drug warehouse in Benin City, where officers seized more than 412 kilograms of cannabis products, including cannabis sativa and Canadian Loud.
NDLEA also announced the arrest of a Chadian national, Hajara Abdullahi, and her Nigerian associate, Abdulkarim Jidda, in Lagos after investigators linked them to a shipment of 50,000 tramadol pills intercepted earlier in Kogi State.
Alongside enforcement actions, the agency continued its nationwide War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign, delivering drug-awareness programmes in schools across several Nigerian states, including Katsina, Enugu, Lagos, Rivers, Ekiti and Kano.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retired), commended officers involved in the operations, saying their efforts had significantly strengthened Nigeria’s ongoing campaign against drug trafficking and abuse. He urged personnel across the country to remain vigilant as authorities intensify efforts to disrupt criminal networks operating across regional and international borders.
The latest seizures highlight the growing challenge posed by transnational drug trafficking routes in West Africa, a region increasingly used by criminal networks to move narcotics across borders and into global markets.
