Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a female drug kingpin, Shodunke Yetunde Simbiat, in Lagos with 23.5 kilograms of cocaine concealed in her children’s room, barely 20 months after a major cocaine trafficking syndicate she belonged to was dismantled by the agency.
Simbiat, 39, described by the NDLEA as a key leader and stash keeper of a trans-border drug trafficking organisation, was arrested at her residence on 31 Onasanya Street, Surulere, Lagos, on Tuesday, December 9, 2025, following months of intelligence-led surveillance.
A search of her apartment led to the recovery of the Class A drug, packed in blocks and hidden inside a black suitcase kept in her children’s room. The cocaine, with an estimated street value of over ₦5 billion, was said to be owned by the suspect, who had been on the run since May 2024.
The arrest is linked to an earlier operation in which NDLEA operatives smashed a cocaine cartel led by a couple, Bolanle Lookman Dauda and Olayinka Toheebat Dauda. The duo were arrested on Saturday, May 25, 2024, along the Ibiye axis of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway while attempting to cross the land border to Ghana.
At the time of their arrest, 42 blocks of cocaine weighing 47.5 kilograms were recovered from them. A subsequent raid on their residence at Plot 24/25, OPIC Extension, Petedo Road, Agbara, Ogun State, yielded an additional eight blocks weighing 10 kilograms, bringing the total seizure from the couple to 57.5 kilograms of cocaine.
Determined to dismantle the entire syndicate, NDLEA operatives sustained intelligence and follow-up operations, which eventually led to the identification and arrest of Simbiat as one of the cartel’s principal figures.
Meanwhile, NDLEA officers at the Terminal II departure hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, intercepted a 36-year-old businessman, Nwanwene Robinson Destiny, on Thursday, December 18, while attempting to board a Royal Air Maroc flight to Milan, Italy.
The suspect was found with 1,020 pills of tramadol 225mg and tapentadol 200mg concealed in his luggage. He reportedly told investigators that he would have earned €200 for successfully delivering the opioids in Italy, where he is based.
At the Seme border in the Badagry area of Lagos, NDLEA operatives arrested a 48-year-old Beninoise national, Leocardi Josu, on the same day while he was trying to smuggle 3,400 tablets of tramadol 225mg into Nigeria.
In another operation, a 30-year-old suspect, Abdullahi Adamu, was arrested along the Okene–Lokoja highway on Friday, December 19, with 28.4 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis, and Colorado, a synthetic variant.
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In Oyo State, NDLEA officers intercepted a Toyota Hiace bus marked XD 592 AWL along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Friday, December 19, recovering 125,000 capsules of tramadol and 1,800 ampoules of pentazocine injection. Two suspects, Ogunlade Kazeem, 54, and Adeleke Ismail, 30, were also arrested at Challenge Motor Park, Ibadan, on Wednesday, December 17, with 185.4 kilograms of skunk.
Similarly, a raid on the Owena/Ijesha forest in Osun State led to the seizure of 405 kilograms of skunk and the arrest of a suspect, Charles James, 45, on Friday, December 19. On the same day, another suspect, Jamilu Zakari, 42, was arrested at a tollgate along the Abuja–Kaduna highway with 14,960 pills of tramadol 225mg concealed in two kolanut sacks reportedly coming from Abuja to Gusau, Zamfara State.
Commending the officers involved in the arrests and seizures, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), urged personnel nationwide to remain vigilant during the festive season and maintain the highest level of professionalism in both drug supply and demand reduction efforts.
The agency reaffirmed its commitment to dismantling drug networks and curbing substance abuse across the country.
