By HeapNews
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has begun the new year with a series of high-profile arrests and drug seizures across Nigeria, dismantling drug networks and uncovering illegal operations in Lagos, Kwara, Kano, and Rivers states.
In Lagos, operatives arrested 61-year-old Alhaja Aishat Feyisara Ajoke Elediye, a socialite and notorious drug kingpin known in the underworld as “Iya Ruka.” She was apprehended at her mansion in the Okota area after a truckload of cannabis linked to her operation was intercepted. The white Isuzu truck, driven by one of her staff, carried 44 jumbo sacks containing 1,540 kilograms of imported cannabis. Alhaja Ajoke, who publicly presented herself as a businesswoman importing fabrics and shoes from China, secretly led a significant drug cartel operating from Mushin.
The agency also arrested US-trained filmmaker and motivational speaker Emeka Emmanuel Mbadiwe at a hotel in Lekki. His partner, Uzoekwe Ugochukwu James, was earlier arrested at a warehouse in Ikeja, where he was found with 33 parcels of “Loud,” a potent strain of cannabis weighing 17.3 kilograms. The drugs had been smuggled into Nigeria from the United States in wooden boxes on a Delta Airlines flight.
In Kwara State, two young women, 24-year-old graduate Khadijat Abdulraheem and 20-year-old student Ayomide Morakinyo, were arrested for producing and selling drug-laced cupcakes to students in Ilorin. NDLEA operatives recovered 42 pieces of the drugged cakes during a search of their apartment.
An ex-convict, Sodade Sunday Eniola, who was jailed in June 2024 for drug trafficking but released after paying a fine, was arrested again for passport racketeering. NDLEA operatives at the Lagos airport intercepted 52 international passports hidden in shoe soles and food items destined for Canada, Russia, and other countries. Eniola and three others were handed over to the Nigerian Immigration Service for further investigation and possible prosecution.
In Port Harcourt, NDLEA officers seized 316,800 bottles of codeine-based syrup during a joint operation with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex. Meanwhile, in Kano, 149,090 pills of tramadol and exol-5 were recovered during a raid in the Mafarki, Dan Dishe area of Dala Local Government.
The NDLEA also intensified its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign, conducting sensitization activities in schools, markets, and worship centers. Among these efforts were lectures for traders in Ido-Osi Central Market, Ekiti State, and Muslim faithful during Juma’at prayers in Jigawa State.
NDLEA Chairman Mohamed Buba Marwa commended the officers involved in these operations, emphasizing the agency’s balanced approach to reducing drug supply and demand while reiterating its commitment to combating drug abuse nationwide.