Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted a major cocaine shipment ingeniously concealed in the heads of imported dry stock fish, popularly known as “Okporoko,” in Lagos, arresting a suspected kingpin linked to an international drug trafficking network.
The suspect, 36-year-old Akputa Dickson Ejike, was apprehended following a coordinated sting operation by the agency’s Murtala Muhammed International Airport Strategic Command in the Ojo area of Lagos on March 19, 2026.
According to the agency, the operation was triggered by intelligence reports exposing the syndicate’s transnational drug trafficking activities, particularly routes targeting India.
During the raid, operatives recovered three jumbo bags from Ejike.
A search revealed 237 wraps of cocaine, weighing 5.80 kilograms, carefully buried inside fish heads. The illicit consignment was reportedly destined for Delhi, India.
In a separate operation, NDLEA officers from the directorate of operations and general investigation intercepted two drug consignments bound for the United Kingdom at a Lagos-based courier firm on March 25.
One of the shipments, which originated from Cotonou in the Benin Republic, contained 1.9 kilograms of methamphetamine hidden inside automobile filters.
Another parcel was found to contain 40 ampoules of morphine sulphate and nine ampoules of fentanyl.
The agency also uncovered a drug distribution network allegedly run by a Lagos-based businesswoman, 46-year-old Omolade Abigail Jolayemi, popularly known as “Iya Ghana.”
She was arrested alongside her associate, Sarah Zainab Agbabiaka, 31, during a raid on her residence at 13 Carter Street, Yaba, on March 26.
NDLEA operatives recovered 135 blocks of Ghana Loud,, a potent strain of cannabis weighing 76.30 kilograms, from the premises.
Authorities said Jolayemi operated under the cover of a local fabric trader, while allegedly coordinating cross-border drug distribution between Nigeria and Ghana.
On the same day, operatives arrested another suspect, Anayo Lucky Ohabiro, 39, at Doyin Bus Stop in Surulere, Lagos, where 78 blocks of cannabis weighing 41 kilograms were seized.
In Ekiti State, NDLEA officers arrested an 80-year-old suspect, Oke Samuel, during a raid at Mosafuneto camp in Efon-Alaaye, recovering 2.2 kilograms of skunk and 1.8 grams of methamphetamine.
Similarly, in neighbouring Ondo State, operatives raided an uncompleted building in Ogbese, Akure North, where 894.72 kilograms of skunk were recovered from a suspect, Enuwa Kehinde Kingsley, 37.
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Further operations across the country led to additional seizures. In Benue State, 116.7 kilograms of skunk were recovered from a suspect, Saater Nyam, during a raid in Pevi village, Guma Local Government Area. I
n Edo State, NDLEA operatives uncovered a warehouse in Ekpoma, leading to the arrest of 25-year-old Felix Donald and the seizure of 576.5 kilograms of skunk and 33 bottles of codeine-based syrup.
In Taraba State, officers intercepted a truck conveying 100 blocks of compressed skunk weighing 135 kilograms, concealed in bags of animal feed en route from Garbachede to Gombe State.
Two suspects, Osama Mamuda, 21, and Auwal Umar, 22, were arrested in connection with the seizure.
