Guinea-bound cocaine, loud recovered from microwaves, lipsticks in Lagos as NDLEA nabs wanted drug kingpin

 Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted parcels of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis concealed in microwaves imported from Thailand and wraps of cocaine built into ladies lipsticks going to Guinea at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja Lagos.

The Loud consignment was part of a consolidated cargo that came in two tranches on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Bangkok, Thailand through Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Based on credible intelligence.

A statement signed by NDLEA”s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday, said the cargo was subjected to thorough search during which 23 parcels of loud weighing 11.3kg concealed in new microwaves were recovered on Monday 7th July 2025.

“A suspect Ezenwegbu Chike has been arrested in connection with the seizure,”  the statement said.

Meanwhile, another smuggling attempt involved 400 grams of cocaine concealed within lipsticks being shipped to Malabo, Guinea, as part of a larger consignment of beauty products including hair extensions and face powder was foiled .

The bust came barely a week after a similar seizure — 420 grams of cocaine hidden in 84 lipsticks bound for the UK.

“No less than 400grams of cocaine and phenacetine, a cutting agent, were recovered from the lipsticks when dismantled while a businessman at the Trade Fair Complex, Ojo area of Lagos, Ezeikwelume Prince Afam was arrested on Friday 11th July in connection with the seizure,” the NDLEA stated.

In another major breakthrough, operatives also arrested an alleged major trafficker, Okechukwu Izugha, also known as Okey Omeogo, who had been on the run for a year. The agency said he was apprehended on Wednesday, July 9, at his wife’s shop in the Ijesha Market area of Lagos.

“Izugha came under NDLEA radar on 7th August 2024 after a 9kg cocaine was recovered from a suspect Obiora Joseph Agudosi at a motor park in Orile, Lagos while going to deliver the consignment in the southeast. Izugha was identified as the owner of the seized drug. In the course of investigating the kingpin and his network, his wife Maureen Izugha was arrested with 500grams of cocaine at her beverages store in Ijesha market on 21st January 2025. She was thereafter arraigned in court, convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment. Unknown to him that NDLEA was still on his trail, the wanted kingpin came out of his hiding and was promptly arrested last Wednesday.”

According to the statement, elsewhere, in Edo State, NDLEA agents destroyed over 28,000kg of cannabis cultivated on three farms spanning more than 11 hectares in the Ewere Uzebba forest, Owan West LGA. An additional 82kg of processed cannabis was recovered. Officers were reportedly ambushed by armed gang members after the operation but managed to repel the attack. One of their vehicles sustained bullet damage.

In Lagos, operatives intercepted a Ford delivery truck at Okun-Ajah Beach, recovering 1,400 compressed blocks of cannabis known as Ghana Loud, weighing 700kg. Two suspects — Innocent Ejidiobo and Friday Paul — were arrested later that day on the Ajah-Epe expressway, with 26kg of cannabis, 123g of methamphetamine, and 45g of Molly also found in their delivery van.

The NDLEA also reported significant seizures across several states:
In Borno, Godwin Chimaobi Nwaobi, 42, was caught with 18,759 ampoules of pentazocine, along with tramadol and rohypnol pills in Njimtilo, Maiduguri.

In Gombe, 116,226 pills of tramadol and D5 were confiscated from five suspects across the main market and Gombe-Kano road between July 8 and 12.

In Kogi, Sabiu Bala was arrested on July 10 while transporting 316.6kg of cannabis along the Okene-Lokoja expressway.

In Kaduna, Haladu Suleiman, 38, was caught in Gubuchi, Ikara LGA, with 58.805kg of cannabis.
In Taraba, three men — Auwal Ibrahim, 30; Lukman Ibrahim, 18; and Hamza Adamu, 25 — were nabbed with 577,890 opioid pills and 1.16kg of cannabis hidden in a tanker’s tyre compartment at Lanka Viri checkpoint.

Finally, in Kano, three others — Shamsudini Abdullahi, 35; Adamu Abdullahi, 21; and Magaji Rabo, 26 — were allegedly caught with 48.1kg of cannabis near Janguza Barracks.