NDLEA Seizes 31.5kg Cocaine, Arrests 22 Indian Sailors in Lagos Port Bust

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted consignments of illicit drugs hidden in coffee sachets bound for Zambia and the United Kingdom.

In a statement on Sunday, Femi Babafemi, NDLEA spokesperson, said the agency uncovered “various quantities of Ketamine, Ecstasy and Tramadol pills concealed in sachets of coffee mix and book parcel heading to Zambia and the United Kingdom” at a courier company in Lagos on December 24 and 29, 2025.

“The seizures made at a courier company in Lagos on 24th and 29th December 2025 came just as the Agency has taken into custody 22 Indian crew members of a merchant vessel, MV Aruna Hulya, in which 31.5 kilograms of cocaine were seized by operatives at the GDNL terminal, Apapa port Lagos on Friday 2nd January 2026,” the statement reads.

Those detained in connection with the seizure include the master of the vessel, Sharma Shashi Bhushan, and 21 other crew members.

The ship reportedly originated from the Marshall Islands.

In Oyo state, NDLEA arrested a wanted female drug kingpin.

“The 65-year-old grandma, Fatima Ilori, popularly known as Mama Kerosine, was nabbed in an intelligence-led operation following the seizure of 238.4kg skunk, a strain of cannabis, linked to her,” the statement added.

Babafemi said she was apprehended alongside Olusanya Abosede, 35, at Onireke/Elekuro area of Ibadan.

The agency also disrupted drug supply chains in Borno state, where “two suppliers were arrested and large consignments of illicit substances seized”.

Among them, Isa Mohammed, 26, was caught with 9,150 ampoules of Tramadol injection, while Musa Samaila, 30, was nabbed with 34,000 capsules of Tramadol at Biu market.

Other operations included the recovery of “not less than 400kg skunk along with a van at Mobolaji Johnson area of Lagos” on New Year’s Day, and the arrest of Bilya Ibrahim, 39, in Hadejia, Jigawa state, while transporting 260 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 140.8kg.

In Kwara, NDLEA recovered 238.50kg skunk from the home of a suspect at Asadam area of Ilorin and 32,000 pills of Tramadol and Diazepam from another suspect at Bode Saadu, Moro LGA.

Thé NDLEA said its personnel also continued the “War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization activities to schools, worship centres, work places and communities”.

Buba Marwa, NDLEA chairman, commended the officers and enjoined them to “intensify the ongoing drug control efforts of the Agency”.