NDLEA arrested ASPAMDA trader for attempting to smuggle cocaine to Angola

Stanley Ihedigbo

In a significant bust, the operatives of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) thwarted an attempt by Auto Spare Parts and Machinery Dealers Association (ASPAMDA) trader, Mr. Okeke Ebuka Igwe, to smuggle 1.10kg of cocaine concealed in vehicle propellers to Angola through the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos.

The suspect, Okeke Ebuka Igwe, an auto spare parts dealer, was arrested on Monday, February 24, following credible intelligence.

According to the Director, Media & Advocacy , NDLEA, Mr. Femi Babafemi, during an interview, Igwe claimed to be a businessman selling auto parts in ASPANDA, Trade Fair Complex, Ojo area of Lagos.

The NDLEA operatives discovered the cocaine hidden in two parcels of vehicle propellers, which were destined for Angola.

The agency’s swift action has prevented the illicit substance from reaching its intended destination.

Also a 42-year-old Angolan businessman, Mbala Dajou Abuba, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano, for attempting to traffic a large consignment of cocaine, which he ingested, to Istanbul Turkey.
Abuba, who is from the Zaire province in Angola, was arrested on Tuesday, 25th February 2025, at the screening point of the Kano airport while trying to board Egypt Air flight MS 880 to Istanbul, Turkey, via Cairo.

After his body scan result confirmed he had ingested an illicit drug, he was thereafter placed under excretion observation, during which he expelled 120 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.829 kilograms in seven excretions. In his statement, the suspect claimed he was in the business of township delivery services in Angola before delving into the illicit drug trade.
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The bid by another suspect, Ezechi Iyke Cyprian, to move a large consignment of cocaine weighing 5.40 kilograms to Owerri, Imo state, in his Toyota Sienna bus on Sunday 23rd February, was frustrated by operatives of a special operations unit of NDLEA who arrested him following weeks of intelligence and surveillance.

At the Tincan seaport in Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Friday, 28th February, discovered a total of 128 parcels of Canadian Loud, a strong strain of cannabis concealed in two matrasses in the trunk of a Toyota Venza car imported from Canada.

The discovery of the 63.75kg consignment was made during a joint examination of a targeted container marked TCNU 1945861 from Montreal, Canada, by NDLEA, Customs, and other security agencies. The consignee of the shipment, 44-year-old Bamidele Joseph has been arrested and taken into custody.

In Delta state, NDLEA operatives supported by the military on Thursday, 27th February, stormed a forest in the Innam-Abbi/Orogun community, Ndokwa West local government area, where they destroyed over 50,000kg cannabis on a 20-hectare farmland.

Five suspects arrested during the raid include: Augustine Subaru, 45; Ukoba Malachukwu, 53; Odalonu Emmanuel, 40; Esuabom Macaulay, 35; and Itoje Safe, 54.

In another operation in Delta, NDLEA operatives on Friday, 28th February, intercepted a Mercedes Benz truck marked AWK 791 ZJ along Abraka-Orogun road.

A search of the truck led to the recovery of 101 bags of skunk with a total weight of 1,111kg.

In Edo state, NDLEA officers supported by the military on Saturday 1st March raided the Okpuje community in Owan West LGA where they destroyed over 100 jumbo bags of skunk in warehouses and recovered a total of 1,409.5kg of the psychoactive substance for the prosecution of arrested suspects: Oikelomen Osere Monday, 38 and Glory Iroyo, 42.

While a suspect, Michael Omoloki, 46, was arrested with 58.5 kilograms of skunk at the Ibadan end of the Lagos -Ibadan expressway, Oyo state, operatives in Kwara state on Monday 24th February nabbed a Beninoise Lawali Mohammed with 2,980 tablets of tramadol and dozens of diazepam pills at Eiyenkorin expressway, Ilorin.

In Osun, NDLEA operatives on patrol along the Ibadan/ Gbongan expressway on Thursday, 27th February, intercepted a consignment of 1.05kg skunk concealed in detergent soap and biscuit carton, while Sunday Ogbu, 45, was arrested in connection with the seizure.

A suspect, Ayuba Mustapha, 30, was arrested at Tsafe, Zamfara state, with 24,700 pills of tramadol on Sunday, 23rd February.

In Borno state, Mustapha Shettima, 50, was arrested by NDLEA operatives with 31kg skunk, 1,000 pills of tramadol, and N720,000 monetary exhibit along Bama road, Maiduguri on Wednesday 26th February, while Adamu Idris, 40, was nabbed along Zaria road, Kano, same day with 140 blocks of cannabis weighing 73.5kg.

With the same vigor, Commands, and formations of the Agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA), sensitization activities to schools, worship centers, workplaces, and communities, among others, in the past week.

These include: WADA enlightenment lecture to students and staff of Ansarudeen Junior Secondary School, Ojuelegba, Lagos; Loretto Girls Special Science School, Adazinnukwu, Anambra State and Tudun Murtala Special Primary School, Nasarawa LGA, kano state, among others.

While commending the officers and men of MMIA, MAKIA, SOU, Tincan, Delta, Edo, Oyo, Kano, Osun, Borno, Zamfara, and Kwara Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) stated that their operational successes and those of their compatriots across the country, especially their balanced approach to drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts, are well appreciated.