By Olaitan Ibrahim
In a week of jaw-dropping crackdowns, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) dismantled multiple drug networks across Nigeria.
The agency intercepted opioid hauls worth over ₦3.2 billion and arrested a shocking cast of suspects — including an 80-year-old ex-convict, an 82-year-old grandma, and a polytechnic student turned dealer.
This is contained in a statement issued by NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi on Sunday.
In Kaduna, the statement said Ayuba Ashiru, 80, who recently completed a 10-year sentence for drug crimes, was caught red-handed with 2.3kg of skunk.
He astonishingly confessed to a 46-year career in drug trafficking, describing it as his lifelong hustle.
Meanwhile, in Abia State, NDLEA operatives swooped in on Mrs. Uloma Uchechi Sunday, 82, and her 32-year-old daughter Chisom, at their village hideout in Umuaguma Ntigha Uzor.
Officers found meth, tramadol, cannabis, and ₦130,600 in cash. The elderly matriarch reportedly confessed they inherited the trade from her deceased son.
In an international sting at Port Harcourt Port, over 3 million pills of Tapentadol and Carisoprodol valued at ₦2.1bn were uncovered in a watch-listed container.
In a similar bust at Apapa Seaport, Lagos, officers discovered 169,800 bottles of codeine syrup cleverly disguised as car parts – worth another ₦1.1bn.
In Ilorin, Kwara State Polytechnic’s HND 1 student, Ibrahim Oladimeji Abdulateef, was arrested selling 650g of Loud already packaged in 149 student-sized cups. Two others, Abdulwahab Quadir and Abdulraheem Ismail, were busted with nearly 200,000 pills of tramadol.
At a Lagos courier firm, NDLEA intercepted 250g of cocaine ingeniously hidden in a woman’s headgear bound for Australia.
In Niger State, two major cannabis busts occurred. A car carrying 143kg of skunk was intercepted on Mokwa-Jebba road, while another suspect was caught with 14.3kg of Loud and led officers to the real owner – a notorious dealer nicknamed “Liti”.
Even more shocking: along the Abuja-Kaduna highway, operatives stopped a 29-year-old, Ismail Isah, with an AK-47 rifle and two magazines stuffed in a maize sack.
Elsewhere across the country, 594.8kg of skunk seized in Nasarawa, 67.5kg of cannabis recovered in Lagos, 198kg of skunk found in Jigawa and 5,350 pills of tramadol and diazepam seized in Taraba.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), hailed the coordinated success and praised officers for striking a balance between crushing supply chains and advocating against drug abuse.