The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has seized 1.63 million tramadol pills hidden in two long trailers on their way to Kano. This action is part of their efforts to break down a drug trafficking group that operates between Togo, Benin Republic, and Nigeria.
The agency also arrested an 80-year-old suspect in Rivers State. This man is a businesswoman connected to cannabis shipments from Canada, alongside a Chadian woman, a couple, and other suspects arrested in coordinated efforts across Lagos, Edo, Kogi, and Rivers states.
Femi Babafemi, the Director of Media and Advocacy for NDLEA, shared this information in a statement on Sunday.
The latest operation came just a week after NDLEA agents found 558,900 tramadol pills hidden in a truck that entered Lagos from Togo via Benin Republic.
Babafemi said, "Our ongoing efforts to break down a drug trafficking group smuggling tramadol from Togo through Benin Republic into Nigeria have seen success with the capture of two long trailers carrying One Million Six Hundred and Thirty (1,630,000) pills of tramadol 250mg hidden in secret compartments of the trucks across multiple borders into Lagos."
He mentioned that one of the trailers was stopped on July 2 along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. They found 853,000 pills of tramadol 250mg hidden beneath the cargo floor in a fake compartment.
Babafemi said, "One of the two trucks heading to Kano was tracked down on 2nd July 2026 along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. NDLEA officers found 853,000 pills of tramadol 250mg hidden in a fake compartment beneath the cargo floor of the trailer and arrested the 22-year-old driver Jabir Kabiru."
He added that another trailer was caught on the same route two days later.
"On 4th July, NDLEA operatives, acting on gathered intelligence, tracked and seized the second trailer on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway while it was heading to Kano. They recovered 777,000 pills of tramadol 250mg hidden in a fake compartment beneath the cargo floor of the truck and arrested the 22-year-old driver Muhammed Nuhu," the statement said.
Babafemi noted that investigations showed a connection between the three seized shipments.
He said, "Investigations revealed that all three trucks and shipments stopped on 21st June, 2nd July, and 4th July belong to the same drug trafficking group working along the Togo-Benin Republic-Nigeria route."
In Rivers State, NDLEA officers arrested 80-year-old Chika Ugwoji in Ahoada. They found 800 grams of skunk in his possession.
Babafemi stated, "Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives in Rivers State have arrested an 80-year-old grandpa, Chika Ugwoji, for dealing in illegal substances. He was found with 800 grams of skunk when he was arrested at Ahoada on Tuesday, 14th July."
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