Daud Olatunji
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have arrested a convicted cocaine trafficker accused of masterminding drug shipments to Saudi Arabia after allegedly disguising himself as a herbal tea businessman.
The suspect, identified as 34-year-old Dunu Bethel Ebubechukwu, was arrested during a sting operation at Article Market, opposite Trade Fair Market, in the Ojo area of Lagos, on Friday, September 4, 2026.
His arrest followed the interception of 1.2kg of cocaine concealed in phone chargers at a courier company in Lagos on July 31. The consignment was allegedly destined for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The NDLEA said its Directorate of Operations and General Investigation tracked the suspected mastermind through intelligence-led operations before arresting him.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, Ebubechukwu admitted masterminding some illicit drug shipments in the past.
The agency said the suspect also disclosed that he discarded his telephone SIM card after learning that the latest cocaine consignment had been intercepted.
Babafemi said further investigation established that Ebubechukwu had previously been arrested by the NDLEA in 2011 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
He was arrested at the time after allegedly ingesting 900g of cocaine and 130g of heroin while attempting to travel to Austria under the name Dunu Chukwuyenre Enoch.
He was subsequently prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment.
The NDLEA said the suspect later changed his name to Dunu Bethel Ebubechukwu before allegedly returning to the illicit drug trade.
A search of his residence at 6 Yemishola Street, Ejigbo, Lagos, on Friday reportedly yielded phone chargers similar to those used to conceal the intercepted cocaine.
According to the agency, the internal components of the chargers had been removed to create compartments for concealing drugs.
NDLEA intercepts massive drug consignments
The arrest was part of a nationwide crackdown during which the NDLEA said it seized large quantities of cocaine, cannabis, tramadol, methamphetamine and other psychoactive substances across several states.
At the Lagos airport, operatives recovered 966,200 tablets of tramadol 225mg, valued at more than N1.1bn, concealed among thrift trousers in a 21-carton consignment from Pakistan.
The agency also recovered 57.8kg of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis with an estimated street value of more than N173m, hidden in cartons of disposable hand gloves in a shipment from Singapore.
The consignment had reportedly remained unclaimed for weeks before NDLEA operatives, Customs officials and other security agencies conducted a joint examination on September 3.
In Ondo State, NDLEA officers intercepted a 20,000-litre fuel tanker, marked MKA 960 XC, which the agency said had allegedly been used to evade arrest in the past.
The tanker was chased along the Akoko/Lokoja Expressway on September 4 after its driver allegedly refused to stop.
The driver reportedly abandoned the vehicle at a church premises in Ugbe Akoko and fled into the bush.
A search of the tanker uncovered a concealed compartment containing 165 bags of cannabis weighing 2,145kg, alongside its legitimate fuel cargo reportedly destined for Jos, Plateau State.
At the Tincan Port in Lagos, the agency also intercepted 598.08kg of cannabis-laced cookies and gummies packed in 890 packets inside a 40-foot container.
The seizure was linked to three suspects—Yashim Dauji, Larry Ifeanyi and Joseph Moji—who had earlier been arrested over the seizure of 842.54kg of similar cannabis-laced cookies.
Huge opioid haul uncovered in Adamawa
In Adamawa State, NDLEA operatives recovered 864,000 opioid pills, particularly tramadol, from a residence linked to a fleeing suspect, Patrick KC Frank, in the Damilu-Jambutu axis of Jimeta, Yola North Local Government Area.
The agency said Frank escaped after his Honda Civic car rammed an NDLEA patrol vehicle.
In Michika, a 35-year-old suspected methamphetamine supplier, Calistus Ebubechukwu, was arrested with 2kg of the substance.
Another suspect, Attahiru Hussaini, was intercepted at Namtari checkpoint in Mubi with a large consignment of tramadol and other opioids concealed in a soap-laden Ford Galaxy bus.
In Lagos, the agency said it recovered 2,386.9kg of cannabis, 350g of cocaine, more than 100kg of assorted tramadol, 9.7 litres of codeine syrup and 4kg of Rohypnol at Gbaji.
Two suspects, Damilare Francis and Emeh Emmanuel, were also arrested at Agbara with 720kg of cannabis.
In Kogi State, three suspects—Saidu Mustapha, 35; Zaharadeen Salisu, 29; and AbdulSalam Abdullahi, 25—were arrested with 636kg of cannabis concealed in chicken manure aboard a bus travelling from Owo, Ondo State, to Jos.
In Taraba State, NDLEA operatives arrested 58-year-old Kelechi Unachukwu along Zaki-Biam Road in Wukari Local Government Area.
The agency said he was allegedly transporting more than 109kg of assorted controlled medicines, including tramadol, diazepam, pentazocine, phenobarbital, nitrazepam, bromazepam and pregabalin, from Onitsha, Anambra State, to Yola, Adamawa State.
In Kaduna State, NDLEA officers intercepted a cement-laden truck along the Zaria-Kano Expressway and recovered 1,179kg of skunk.
Meanwhile, in Bauchi State, a suspect identified as Hamza Dahiru, 25, was arrested during a follow-up operation after the seizure of 322.5kg of cannabis at Deba in Gombe State.
In Ekiti State, NDLEA operatives destroyed a four-hectare cannabis farm in Efon-Alaaye forest and recovered 117kg of already harvested cannabis.
Two suspects, Chuks Alex, 50, and Asafa Adekunle, 35, were arrested in connection with the operation.
In Enugu State, a 20-year-old suspect, Obinna David, was arrested at Ugbema Junction with 40,590 capsules of tramadol.
The NDLEA said the arrests and seizures formed part of its ongoing intelligence-driven operations aimed at dismantling drug trafficking networks and preventing illicit substances from reaching Nigerian communities and international destinations.
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