NDLEA Intercepts Cocaine Hidden in Mortar, Backpack Bound for China, Italy; Arrests Drug Kingpin, Bandits’ Supplier
Oru Leonard
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), has intercepted cocaine consignments ingeniously concealed in a local mortar and the false bottom of a backpack, thwarting attempts to smuggle the illicit drugs to China and Italy through a Lagos logistics company.
The seizures, made by operatives of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigations (DOGI) on Thursday, July 30, 2026, included 250 grams of cocaine hidden inside the base of a locally made mortar destined for China and another 500 grams concealed in a backpack prepared for shipment to Italy.
In Rivers State, NDLEA operatives arrested a 38-year-old suspected notorious drug dealer, Ugo Gift Okonkwo, at Eagle Island in Port Harcourt following credible intelligence.
He was apprehended on Sunday, July 26, with assorted illicit substances, including cannabis, cocaine, methamphetamine, swinol, tramadol and codeine syrup.
In a separate operation in Anambra State, NDLEA officers on a stop-and-search patrol at the DMGS Roundabout in Onitsha intercepted a truck with registration number XK 131 BDG loaded with 26,000 bottles of codeine syrup weighing 3,960 kilograms. The driver, 40-year-old Chinedu Nwanze, was arrested.
In Delta State, operatives recovered 331.84 kilograms of skunk from a Toyota Sienna bus with registration number KUJ 26 DV along the Kwale-Ughelli Expressway on Sunday, July 26.
Similarly, in Nasarawa State, a 64-year-old suspect, Joseph Nwaeke, was arrested on Tuesday, July 28, at Asso Angwan Muazu in Karu Local Government Area with 68 kilograms of skunk and 29 grams of methamphetamine.
In Zamfara State, NDLEA operatives intercepted 27-year-old Sani Umar along the Zaria-Gusau Highway on Monday, July 27, while allegedly transporting 7,400 tablets of tramadol (225mg), believed to be intended for supply to criminal elements operating in the region.
Beyond enforcement operations, the agency sustained its nationwide War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign with sensitisation programmes in schools, transport parks and communities. Awareness lectures were held for students and staff of Hausawa Special Primary School in Kano, Royal Crown School in Oluyole, Ibadan, Government Secondary School in Ibi, Taraba State, and commercial drivers at the Challenge Bus Terminal in Ibadan, among other locations.
Commending officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigations as well as the Rivers, Anambra, Delta, Nasarawa and Zamfara Commands, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mohamed Buba Marwa, urged personnel across the country to sustain the agency’s balanced approach of combining aggressive drug enforcement with preventive public education in the fight against drug abuse and trafficking.
