NDLEA Arrests Chinese bizman, 80-yr-old grandma
A Chinese businessman Liang Tak You and an 80-year-old grandmother, Grace Ekpeme top the list of arrests made by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in nationwide interdiction operations in the last one week.
The operation led to the seizure of consignments of Colorado, a synthetic strain of cannabis hidden in moimoi sachets and Canadian Loud, another strong strain of cannabis concealed in canned food items imported from Canada.
Liang was arrested at the arrival hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos on 25th July 2025 based on actionable intelligence.
The suspect, who arrived Nigeria from Bangkok via Dubai, is a Chinese national, naturalised and based in Malaysia, but flew to Thailand where he picked two suitcases filled with 50 parcels of Loud weighing 26.10kg before heading to Nigeria via UAE.
Upon his arrival at the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives who were tracking his movement from his port of departure allowed him to pass through necessary protocols before picking him up on his way out of the airport.
The octogenarian grandma Mrs. Grace Ekpeme was arrested at Edet-Nsa street, Base Site, Calabar South, Cross River state with over 3kg skunk in the early hours of Saturday 26th July following intelligence on her drug dealing activities.
In Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Wednesday 23rd July intercepted a suspect Chidi Agbafo along Epe – Ajah expressway while taking consignments of 21.7kg Colorado, some of which were packaged in moimoi cooking sachets and 3.8litres of codeine based syrub in a commercial bus to deliver in Warri and Oghara, Delta state.
At the Apapa seaport in Lagos, a total of 101kg Canadian Loud factory packed in 202 tins of imported food item labelled Bean Salad Mix and concealed in two Toyota Sienna buses were discovered in a container that came from Canada.
The discovery was made during a joint examination of the container by NDLEA officers, men of the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies on Friday 25th July.
Similarly, no fewer than 71,000 pills of tramadol, diazepam and exol-5 were recovered from one Usman Musa by NDLEA operatives on patrol along Abuja- Kaduna highway on Wednesday 23rd July when the suspect was travelling with the consignment of opioids in a commercial bus going to Kano.
In Borno, a 30-year-old woman, Binta Usman, was on Wednesday 23rd July arrested by NDLEA officers who recovered 30.1kg skunk from her house at Muna Moforo area of Maiduguri.
A follow up operation led to the arrest of her accomplice Bala Abdullahi in the same area of the Borno state capital on Friday 25th July.
The NDLEA operatives have also arrested three brothers, Nanna Ozirinye, Chizom Ozirinye and Maxwell Ozirinye on Saturday 26th July during a raid of a cannabis plantation at bending corner forest, Idoani, Ose local council area of Ondo State.
The operatives destroyed 2,500 kilograms of skunk on an hectare of land and recovered 121.4kg processed ones.
In Edo state, NDLEA officers on Wednesday 23rd July raided the Asakpa community in Benin city, where they arrested a 26-year-old girl, Bright Sunday Okon and recovered various quantities of Colorado, Loud, Arizona and skunk, all strains of cannabis and Methamphetamine from her.
The operatives have also seized 105.4kg skunk from an abandoned Honda car marked ABC 204 KM in Keffi, Nasarawa state.
In Niger state, on Monday 21st July, NDLEA operatives arrested a suspect, Bashir Abdullahi, with 6,400 pills of tramadol 225mg at Kasuwan Gwari area of Minna, while in Ogun state, a notorious drug dealer, Jamiu Omolaja was taken into custody and 113kg skunk retrieved from his enclave in Ifo on Thursday 24th July after a violent resistance and attack on NDLEA operatives by members of his gang.
The NDLEA said it has also intercepted a total of 10,910 capsules of tramadol seized from a suspect, Adamu Adamu a.k.a Dankyado, along Gombe-Bajoga road in Gombe state on Saturday 26th July.
In Kogi state, the operatives on Thursday 24th July intercepted a consignment of skunk concealed inside garri, dried scent leaves, and other food items along Okene-Lokoja highway.
A follow-up operation in Abuja led to the arrest of 27-year-old Kindness Bala who was planning to travel to Katsina state with the cargo and later to Qatar.
Similarly, operatives in Kogi on Saturday 26th July recovered 23,600 pills of tramadol, 300 ampoules of pentazocine injection and 700 grams of skunk from a truck at a motor park in Ayingba area of the state.
While commending the officers and men of MMIA, Apapa, Lagos, Cross River, Edo, Ondo, Nasarawa, Borno, Niger, Ogun, Gombe, Kaduna and Kogi Commands for the arrests and seizures of the past week, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) praised their counterparts in all the commands across the country for pursuing a fair balance in NDLEA’s drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.
