Fake police, mechanic arrested as NDLEA seizes 1.3m tramadol pills, 6,000kg cannabis worth ₦ 3.4bn

• NDLEA arrests alleged fake police officer in Delta with 292.48kg of cannabis

• Over 1.1 million tramadol pills recovered in Niger State operation

• 603.75kg of Canadian Loud worth N1.81bn intercepted at Lagos port

A man allegedly posing as a police officer, a mechanic accused of turning his workshop into a drug storage point, and more than 1.3 million opioid pills are among the latest discoveries made by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

The agency said its operatives recovered more than 1.3 million tramadol and other opioid pills and capsules, alongside about 6,000kg of cannabis, in operations carried out across Lagos, Edo, Niger, Delta, Ondo, Gombe, Imo and the Federal Capital Territory.

The NDLEA said the seizures have a combined street value of more than N3.4 billion. The figure is the agency's assessment.

One of the more unusual arrests happened in Asaba, Delta State, where NDLEA officers arrested 49-year-old Innocent Ekpe on September 16, 2026.

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According to NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy Femi Babafemi, Ekpe was allegedly travelling with 292.48kg of skunk in a silver Toyota Sienna when he was stopped along the Benin-Onitsha Expressway.

The agency alleged that Ekpe had been presenting himself as “Godwin Emeka”, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, and using a forged police identification card to avoid scrutiny at checkpoints. A 39-year-old alleged accomplice, Nduka Joseph, was also arrested.

In neighbouring Edo State, NDLEA operatives arrested 45-year-old mechanic Matthew Ossai at an auto-repair workshop on Agbor Road, Benin City.

The agency alleged that the workshop was being used as a front for storing drugs. Officers reportedly recovered 48kg of Canadian Loud, 152g of methamphetamine and a metal box.

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But the largest individual cannabis seizure came through Lagos.

NDLEA said officers intercepted 1,200 parcels of Canadian Loud weighing 603.75kg at Tin-Can Island Port. The shipment had arrived from Montreal, Canada, on September 12 inside a 40-foot container.

During a joint examination with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies on September 16, officers found the drugs concealed in 31 black jumbo bags inside two Toyota Sienna vehicles. NDLEA valued that seizure alone at N1.811 billion. 

The crackdown also uncovered a major opioid consignment in Niger State. On September 18, NDLEA officers arrested Aminu Isyaku, 23, and Jamilu Habibu, 25, along the Abaji-Abuja Highway.

More than 1.1 million assorted tramadol tablets and capsules, alongside codeine syrup, methamphetamine and Exol tablets, were allegedly found in eight sacks being transported from Onitsha, Anambra State, towards Mararaba, Nasarawa State. 

Other operations produced further seizures. In Lagos, Onyeka Ofor was arrested in Aguda, Surulere, with 48,900 225 mg tramadol pills, while 59kg of cannabis was intercepted at a logistics company. 

In Gombe, 154,480 tramadol capsules were recovered from two suspects.

In Ondo State, officers also raided a two-hectare cannabis farm in Ita-Ogbolu forest, destroying about 5,000kg of skunk and recovering another 48kg of dry and fresh cannabis for prosecution. 

The latest seizures are part of a wider pattern. In April, NDLEA said it recovered 2.36 million high-potency tramadol pills and 1.9 million bottles of codeine syrup from three warehouses in Lagos, with an agency-assessed street value of N16.9 billion. 

In July, it also reported intercepting 1.63 million tramadol pills hidden in fabricated compartments beneath two trucks on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

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The repeated appearance of tramadol in major seizures points at Nigeria’s long-running problem with non-medical opioid use. The National Drug Control Master Plan cited tramadol as the most commonly misused prescription opioid in the country's 2019 National Drug Use Survey. 

NAFDAC also warns that tramadol misuse can lead to dependence, overdose and other serious complications.

NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd.), commended officers involved in the latest operations and urged them to maintain what the agency described as a balanced approach to drug control.