The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has broken the backbone of an international drug cartel operating across Nigeria, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Australia, and the United Arab Emirates, with the arrest of three suspected kingpins in Lagos and the seizure of cocaine worth N5.3 billion.
This is contained in a statement issued by NDLEA’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi in a statement.
Babafemi said the operation followed a two-week intelligence-led mission that exposed a major trafficking syndicate moving hard drugs across continents.
He stated that the breakthrough began on Tuesday, 26th August 2025, when NDLEA operatives at the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, intercepted 76 cartons of textile materials bound for Sydney, Australia.
According to him, “a painstaking search uncovered 16 blocks of cocaine weighing 17.9kg concealed in lace fabrics stuffed with local charms, a ploy investigators believe was intended to shield the shipment from detection. The consignment, valued at 5.3 million Australian dollars (N5.3 billion), led to the immediate arrest of freight agent and syndicate member, Olashupo Michael Oladimeji.
Further investigations tracked down two other cartel leaders. On Wednesday, 3rd September, operatives stormed a hotel in Ikeja GRA, Lagos, and arrested Muaezee Ademola Ogunbiyi, identified as the cartel’s Nigerian coordinator. A subsequent search of his Lekki residence yielded 21 parcels of Canadian Loud cannabis weighing 10.90kg, alongside a pump-action gun with cartridges.
Later that day, Babafemi disclosed that NDLEA agents raided a packaging base at 13 Reverend Ogunbiyi Street, Ikeja GRA, where another cartel leader, Shola Adegoke, was arrested and that a search of the premises and a Range Rover SUV recovered 17 parcels of Loud cannabis weighing 9.60kg, saying that a black Toyota Venza seized earlier from Ogunbiyi was also linked to the operation.
He added that investigators revealed that while Ogunbiyi managed local coordination, the syndicate’s global operations were directed by Adebisi Ademola Omoyele, alias Mr. Bee, currently based in Dubai.
The NDLEA’s spokesman said records further showed that Adegoke had previously served jail time in the UK for methamphetamine trafficking before being deported in 2024, while Ogunbiyi had earlier completed a 14-year sentence in Britain for murder before returning to Nigeria eight years ago.
In another airport bust, NDLEA operatives on Friday, 5th September, arrested Gabriel Michael, a Milan-based Nigerian, at the MMIA departure hall as he attempted to board an Air France flight to Italy.
He was caught concealing 24,480 pills of tramadol of varying strengths, which he admitted he intended to sell for €19,520.
The agency also intercepted a massive consignment of codeine in Rivers State. On Thursday, 4th September, a joint inspection of a 40ft container at the West Africa Container Terminal (WACT), Onne Port, revealed 160,200 bottles of codeine-based syrup concealed inside cartons of ceramic sanitary wares. The consignment, tracked for weeks by NDLEA’s special operations unit, carried an estimated street value of over N1.1 billion, he said.
Meanwhile, in Abuja, Babafemi said a stop-and-search operation on the same day led to the arrest of a 32-year-old dispatch rider, Joel Bernard, in Gwarimpa.
He was found conveying 3.1kg of Colorado, a potent synthetic strain of cannabis.
