The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has recorded major seizures at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, intercepting 25.05kg of methamphetamine concealed in packs of breakfast cereals and 33.95kg of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, from an American professional basketball player. The meth suspect, 56-year-old Chinedu Onwude, who travelled under the stolen identity Omokan Isaac Babatope, was arrested on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, at Terminal II on his return from South Africa after operatives found 25 parcels of a white crystalline substance in his two travelling boxes. A resident of South Africa for over 24 years, he confessed to adopting the false identity with forged documents and said he was contracted by a South Africa-based man, Obiora Okoye, to deliver the consignment in Nigeria for R20,000. On the same day, operatives arrested 28-year-old American citizen Greene Da’monte Khiree, who arrived from Thailand via Dubai aboard an Emirates flight. He was apprehended at the airport car park after abandoning his two checked-in bags, which contained 32 parcels of Loud weighing 33.95kg and a tracking device. The Savannah, Georgia native, who claimed he has lived in Thailand since October 2025 playing professional basketball and came to Nigeria on holiday, was linked to the trafficking by forensic examination of his mobile phone.
The Agency also busted a factory producing illegal firearms in Kaduna and seized tons of illicit substances in raids across Lagos, Ondo, Delta, Edo and Osun states. In Kaduna, operatives raided Sabon Garin Kangin on Monday, November 9, arresting 45-year-old Sagiru Musa and recovering 17 locally made Dane guns, two pistols, 25 Dane gun pipes and other manufacturing materials. Officers on patrol at Jere, along the Abuja-Kaduna expressway, on Friday, November 13, intercepted 31-year-old Tabara Dauda with 196 AK-47 live ammunition and N675,000 cash, while 499.3kg of skunk was recovered from Celestine Chime, 34, and Chibueze Christ, 36, at Gonin-Gora on Saturday, November 14. In Lagos, Taiwo Adebayo Aderoju, 33, was arrested at Ebute Metta on Tuesday, November 10, with 119.71kg of cannabis sativa, while a joint operation in Ajah on Saturday, November 14, recovered 78.8kg cannabis, 2.5 litres of skuchies, 6.8 litres of codeine syrup, 23 grams of Rohypnol, 478 grams of tramadol, 10.6kg of nitrous oxide and 714 grams of pregabalin from an abandoned Toyota Sienna. In Ondo, 560kg of cannabis was recovered from a store at Olabi village and 122kg from a farm in Ipele forest; in Delta, Esther Igba, 43, was arrested with 255.670kg of cannabis and 1.5kg of cannabis seeds; in Osun, a 0.855-hectare cannabis farm estimated at 2,137.5kg was destroyed; and in Edo, Blessing Chukwudi, 39, was arrested in Benin City with 14kg of Loud, 65 grams of Colorado and 73 grams of methamphetamine.
Commending the officers and men of the MMIA, Lagos, Kaduna, Ondo, Delta, Osun and Edo Commands, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), praised their vigilance and professionalism, noting that the methamphetamine concealed in breakfast cereals shows no concealment method, however ingenious, can beat the resolve of the Agency’s operatives. He said the bust of the gun factory in Kaduna further underscores the link between illicit drugs and violent crime, and charged officers across all commands to sustain the tempo of both drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts, even as Commands nationwide continued War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities.
