A shipment of illicit drugs camouflaged as green tea from Thailand has been intercepted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja. The operation, carried out on Thursday, June 5, 2025, followed weeks of surveillance after credible intelligence was received ahead of the consignment’s arrival on May 11. The shipment, which arrived via Emirates Airlines through the UAE, contained 66 parcels of Loud—a strong cannabis variant—weighing a total of 62.20kg.
NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi confirmed that the agency had placed the shipment under watch for more than three weeks before inviting other relevant agencies for a joint inspection. The drugs were tightly wrapped and labelled as green tea to avoid detection.
In a separate incident on Monday, June 2, NDLEA officers in Lagos intercepted a 1,665kg load of skunk along the Lekki-Ajah expressway. Two men, Gidado Abdulrasaq Ayinde and Obanla Oluwafemi, were arrested in connection with the discovery.
Further north, on Tuesday, June 3, officers on duty along the Abuja-Kaduna expressway apprehended 29-year-old Goodluck Nnaemeka. He was caught with 612 bottles of codeine-based syrup and 2,970 tablets of flunitrazepam. That same day, a wanted drug trafficker, Kabiru Musa, also known as KB, was arrested in Kurmin Mashi, Kaduna. Authorities had earlier recovered 25.7kg of skunk from his hideout.
In Edo State, another interception occurred on Auchi road when NDLEA personnel stopped a vehicle and found 9kg of Loud concealed in the spare tyre compartment of an Audi station wagon. The driver, 45-year-old Atari Israel, was taken into custody.
On June 3 in Benin City, two young women, Favour Joy and Joy Igwe, were arrested in the Ikpoba Hill area. A search revealed 106.57kg of skunk, 1kg of Loud, 800 grams of Colorado (another synthetic cannabis variant), and 302 grams of methamphetamine.
Meanwhile, the NDLEA continues its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign through awareness drives in schools and communities across the country. Advocacy sessions were held at institutions such as Sir Usman Nagogo College of Arabic and Islamic Studies in Katsina, Fountain of Knowledge International Academy in Ebonyi, and several schools in Calabar, Lagos, and Anambra. In Bayelsa, the NDLEA’s Zone 13 Command paid a courtesy visit to the Amayanabo of Nembe Kingdom, Dr. Edmund Dakoru.
Chairman and Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retired), praised officers’ efforts in Lagos, Kaduna, Edo, and other commands. He noted that the agency remains committed to curbing the supply and demand for illegal substances nationwide.
