A former cocaine dealer who changed his name to continue selling drugs has been arrested in Lagos. The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) announced this on Sunday.
The suspect, Dunu Bethel Ebubechukwu, 34, was caught on Friday at Article Market, across from Trade Fair Market, in the Ojo area of Lagos.
NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi said Mr Ebubechukwu was arrested after 1.2 kilogrammes of cocaine were intercepted. The drugs were hidden in phone chargers and were meant for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on 31 July.
Mr Babafemi said that the agency's Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) tracked the shipment to Mr Ebubechukwu after weeks of gathering information.
The suspect told the investigators that he had organized drug shipments before. He also admitted to throwing away his phone SIM card after learning that the latest shipment was caught.
A search of his home at 6 Yemishola Street, Ejigbo, Lagos, found phone chargers like those used to hide the cocaine. The chargers had their insides removed to make room for the drugs.
NDLEA confirmed that Mr Ebubechukwu has a history with drugs. He was first arrested in 2011 at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos. He had swallowed 900 grammes of cocaine and 130 grammes of heroin while trying to fly to Austria.
He was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison. After his release, he changed his name from Dunu Chukwuyenre Enoch to Dunu Bethel Ebubechukwu and went back to trafficking.
The agency pointed out that this arrest is part of a larger operation across nine states in the past week. In Lagos, NDLEA agents seized 966,200 tramadol tablets worth over N1.1 billion. The tablets were hidden among thrift trousers in a 21-carton shipment from Pakistan.
They also found 57.8 kilogrammes of Loud, a type of synthetic cannabis, from another shipment from Singapore. This drug was hidden in disposable hand glove cartons.
The shipment was unclaimed for weeks before NDLEA officers, Customs officials, and other security agents checked it on Thursday.
In Ondo State, officers stopped a 20,000-litre fuel tanker after the driver failed to stop along the Akoko-Lokoja Expressway. The driver abandoned the tanker at a church in Ugbe Akoko and ran into the bush.
NDLEA officers later found 165 bags of cannabis weighing 2,145 kilogrammes in a hidden compartment. The tanker was also carrying fuel meant for Jos, Plateau State.
At Tin Can Island Port in Lagos, the agency intercepted 598.08 kilogrammes of cookies and gummies laced with cannabis. This was packed in 890 packets inside a 40-foot container.
NDLEA linked this seizure to three suspects already arrested after 842.54 kilogrammes of similar cannabis-laced cookies were found at the port.
In Adamawa, officers found 864,000 opioid pills, mostly tramadol, at a house connected to a fleeing suspect, Patrick KC Frank. The agency said Mr Frank escaped after his Honda Civic crashed into an NDLEA patrol vehicle.
More arrests and seizures were made in Lagos, Kogi, Taraba, Kaduna, Bauchi, Ekiti, and Enugu states. In Lagos, agents recovered 2,386.9 kilogrammes of cannabis, 350 grammes of cocaine, over 100 kilogrammes of tramadol, 9.7 litres of codeine syrup, and four kilogrammes of Rohypnol in Gbaji.
Two suspects, Damilare Francis and Emeh Emmanuel, were caught in Agbara with 720 kilogrammes of cannabis. In Kogi, Saidu Mustapha, 35; Zaharadeen Salisu, 29; and AbdulSalam Abdullahi, 25, were arrested with 636 kilogrammes of cannabis hidden in chicken manure on a bus going from Owo, Ondo State, to Jos.
The NDLEA also reported the arrest of 58-year-old Kelechi Unachukwu along Zaki-Biam Road in Wukari Local Government Area of Taraba State with over 109 kilogrammes of controlled substances.
This included tramadol, diazepam, pentazocine, phenobarbital, Exol-5, nitrazepam, bromazepam, and pregabalin. In Kaduna, officers stopped a truck with cement bags along Zaria-Kano Expressway and seized 1,179 kilogrammes of skunk.
In Bauchi, Hamza Dahiru, 25, was arrested after 322.5 kilogrammes of cannabis were found in Deba, Gombe State. In Ekiti, NDLEA found and destroyed a four-hectare cannabis farm in Efon-Alaaye forest, recovering 117 kilogrammes of harvested cannabis. Two suspects, Chuks Alex, 50, and Asafa Adekunle, 35, were arrested there.
In Enugu, a 20-year-old suspect, Obinna David, was caught at Ugbema Junction with 40,590 capsules of tramadol. This operation is part of ongoing NDLEA efforts to tackle drug trafficking networks that have international connections.
In June, the agency said it shut down a large methamphetamine lab run by a Nigerian-Mexican cartel in a forest in Tapa Village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State. Five alleged members of the group were arrested, including a 56-year-old Mexican named Jose Villa Ochoa, who was brought in for technical support.
This operation followed the earlier discovery of another large meth lab in a forest in Ijebu East, Ogun State, just weeks before. The NDLEA warned this month that Mexican-linked criminal groups are trying to set up large-scale meth labs in forests in Ogun and Oyo states.
Mr Babafemi also mentioned that the agency has dismantled a cartel working along the Togo-Benin Republic-Nigeria route and intercepted shipments of cocaine, methamphetamine, and cannabis on the high seas off Akwa Ibom State.
NDLEA Chairman, Buba Marwa, praised the officers involved in these operations. He encouraged them to keep using intelligence to fight drug trafficking. He warned that traffickers who change their names or hide behind real businesses will keep being tracked down.
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