NDLEA Cracks Down: Ex-Lagos Councillor, Others Nabbed with Massive Drug Hauls Across Nigeria

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have been busy this week, making arrests and intercepting drugs across the country. One of the headline cases came out of Lagos State, where a former two-term councillor, Sheleru Sadiq Olalekan, 45, was picked up at his Ilado residence on Monday, March 2.

A search turned up a staggering 40 kilograms of skunk, a potent strain of cannabis. Sheleru, who now works as a legislative aide, didn’t deny ownership, confirming both the drugs and the property belonged to him.

The following day, March 3, the NDLEA in Abuja intercepted a 32-year-old businessman, Emeka Hyginus Okwor, travelling from Enugu State to Zuba in the FCT. Inside his luggage, hidden in baby diapers, were 1,000 tapentadol pills. Okwor admitted he was taking the drugs to his provision store in Niger State.

In Kogi State, officers stopped a commercial bus along the Kabba–Obajana highway and found 1.55kg of synthetic cannabis, known as Colorado, hidden in a standing fan carton. The man behind it, 36-year-old Mey Ali Muhamat, is from Cameroon and was headed home via Lagos, Kano, and Maiduguri.

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Niger State wasn’t left out. On March 4, a commercial bus from Ibadan was intercepted carrying 500 improvised explosive device components in a white sack. The intended recipient, Osama Abdullahi, 21, was later arrested in Pelegi, Mashegu Local Council.

Adamawa State saw one of the largest drug recoveries: about 122,000 tramadol pills and 700 grams of methamphetamine hidden in a truck transporting local drinks in Yola. Another young man, Muhammed Ali, 20, was arrested in Kano on March 3 with over 11,000 tramadol pills.

Ogun State officers raided Ogere, arresting Nazifi Mudansir and Kabiru Musa with 46kg of skunk. Delta State arrests added 18.63kg of skunk, 10.8 liters of codeine syrup, and over 4,200 pills of tramadol and swinol to the haul.

In Edo State, 48-year-old Eke London and 49-year-old Austin Isusi were caught at Egbesi Forest in Uhunmwonde Local Council, where NDLEA destroyed 1,910.25kg of skunk on two farms. Elsewhere, Alaba Adeboye, 47, was arrested at Ikhin town with 176.5kg of skunk.