The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has broken up a transnational drug cartel spanning Nigeria, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Australia, and the United Arab Emirates, intercepting narcotics worth over N6.4 billion and arresting three suspected kingpins.
NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday in Abuja, said the crackdown began on August 26 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, where officers intercepted 76 cartons of textile materials destined for Sydney, Australia.
Hidden inside were 16 blocks of cocaine weighing 17.9kg, alongside local charms allegedly meant to shield traffickers from detection.
A freight agent, Olashupo Michael Oladimeji, was arrested in connection with the shipment, which the agency valued at over AU$5.3 million (N5.3 billion).
Follow-up investigations led to the arrest of the cartel’s alleged Nigerian coordinator, Muaezee Ademola Ogunbiyi, and another senior member, Shola Adegoke.
Ogunbiyi was apprehended in Ikeja GRA on September 3, with officers later recovering 21 parcels of Canadian Loud cannabis, a pump-action rifle, and cartridges from his residence in Lekki.
Adegoke was arrested at a packaging facility in Ikeja GRA, where NDLEA operatives discovered 9.6kg of Loud concealed in a Range Rover SUV.
Investigators revealed that Adegoke had previously served a prison term in the UK for methamphetamine trafficking, while Ogunbiyi completed a 14-year sentence in Britain for murder.
The cartel’s overall leader, identified as Adebisi Ademola Omoyele, alias “Mr Bee,” is said to be operating from Dubai, where he coordinates the group’s overseas activities.
In a related operation at Onne Port, Rivers State, a joint NDLEA–Customs team intercepted 160,200 bottles of codeine-based syrup concealed in ceramic sanitary ware, with an estimated street value of N1.1 billion.
The agency further reported multiple seizures across the country, including 625kg of cannabis in Surulere, Lagos, and the destruction of 18.7 tonnes of skunk on two plantations in Taraba State. At the Lagos airport, operatives also arrested a Milan-based Nigerian, Gabriel Michael, while attempting to smuggle 24,480 tramadol tablets to Italy.
He reportedly told investigators the drugs were expected to fetch €19,520.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), commended the operatives for their efforts, stressing the agency’s commitment to its dual approach of law enforcement and public sensitisation under the War Against Drug Abuse campaign.