Drugs concealed in Teddy Bear, Vitamin bottles seized at Lagos logistics companies

By Stanley Ihedigbo

Drug traffickers’ attempts to smuggle narcotics through Lagos courier services were foiled on 27 and 28 November, when operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) seized 100 grams of Loud hidden in a teddy bear from Thailand and 548 tramadol capsules disguised as vitamin bottles bound for the United Kingdom (UK).

According to Femi Babafemi, Director of Media & Advocacy, NDLEA, the 100 grams of Loud concealed in the teddy bear were intercepted at a courier company in Lagos on Thursday, while the consignment of 548 tramadol capsules hidden in bottles of Vitamin C and magnesium bound for the UK was recovered at another logistics firm the following day.

The agency also uncovered and dismantled a social media network used to distribute illicit substances packaged as imported Christmas cookies and snacks, arresting two masterminds after a raid on their hideout in the Lekki area of Lagos.

The drug syndicate, run by Deji Adesanya and Olubiyi Majekodunmi, had imported consignments of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, packaged in colorful designer sachets labeled like cookies and snacks to disguise the psychoactive substance in retail quantities.

Following credible intelligence about the syndicate’s activities, which operated and distributed through a WhatsApp platform, NDLEA operatives raided their apartment at Ojulari Street, Ikate, Lekki, on Saturday, 22 November 2025. During the raid, a large quantity of designer sachets and 5 kilograms of Loud were recovered.

In another operation in Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Thursday, 27 November, arrested 38-year-old drug kingpin Philip Ucheka while he was taking delivery of 110 pouches of Canadian Loud weighing 55.6kg at the Ladipo area of Mushin. Three delivery vehicles were also seized at the point of his arrest.

In Oyo State, NDLEA officers on patrol along the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway on Saturday, 29 November, apprehended Wasiu Kareem, 55, with 8,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 590 bottles of codeine syrup, 1,500 Co-codamol pills, and 9,900 tramadol capsules.

No fewer than seven suspects were arrested on Monday, 24 November, when NDLEA operatives raided Ipe Forest in Akoko South East, Ondo State, recovering 3,077 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis. Those arrested include John Ede, Ede Ndubuisi, Ikenna Abe, Eze Chukwuma, Maduabuchi Odo, Nnaji Chudubem, and Gorge Okowor.

Anthony Sylvester, 49, was arrested along the Okene–Lokoja highway in Kogi State on Wednesday, 26 November, while conveying 649kg of skunk in a truck. NDLEA officers at the Seme Special Area Command also raided a warehouse at Ashipa, Seme border area, Badagry, Lagos, on Friday, 28 November, arresting Abubakar Shuaibu, 33, with 487 blocks of skunk weighing 243.5kg.

In Kano, Tsalha Alasan, 47, was arrested along Zaria–Kano Road with 137kg of skunk on Monday, 24 November. Three other suspects—Godspower Appeal, 50; Ernest Upong, 55; and Godday Chukwudi, 38—were nabbed on Wednesday, 26 November, with 322 blocks of skunk weighing 209 kilograms at Fanshanu Village, Toro LGA, Bauchi State. A black Toyota Highlander jeep marked ABJ 533 EA used to convey the consignment was also recovered.

John Ekojo, 51, was arrested with 210.15kg of skunk along the Abuja–Jos highway on Saturday, 29 November, while a couple, Abdullahi Abubakar, 45, and Jamila Abdullahi, 35, were apprehended along the Abuja–Kaduna highway with 725 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition concealed in a sack of maize. Another suspect, Awwal Sabiu, 20, was caught with 400 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition at Abuja–Kaduna Tollgate on Friday, 28 November.

With the same vigour, NDLEA commands and formations across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces, and communities over the past week. These activities included lectures and awareness programs at Government Junior Technical School, Kofar Kudu, Kano; Bright Eyes International School, Abakaliki, Ebonyi; dock workers and clearing agents at Tincan Port, Lagos; Legacy International College, Nsukka, Enugu; and Seatos School, Ikorodu, Lagos, among others.

While commending officers and men of DOGI Lagos, Ondo, Oyo, Kogi, Kaduna, Kano, Seme, and Bauchi commands for the successful operations, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd) encouraged them and colleagues nationwide to continue the balanced approach to the agency’s drug control efforts.