Green Tea, Red Alert: NDLEA Foils Drug Smuggling Plot At Lagos Airport

In yet another major breakthrough in Nigeria’s war against drug trafficking, operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted sixty-six (66) parcels of Loud, a potent variant of cannabis, cunningly packaged as green tea at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.

The seizure, made on Thursday, June 5, 2025, underscores the Agency’s heightened surveillance and intelligence-led operations across the country.

The operation was triggered by credible intelligence received ahead of the consignment’s arrival from Thailand via the United Arab Emirates on an Emirates Airlines flight. After weeks of watchlisting and sustained surveillance, the NDLEA coordinated a joint examination with relevant stakeholders at the airport’s import shed, which led to the discovery of 62.20kg of Loud expertly concealed in green tea wrappings.

Just days earlier, NDLEA operatives in Lagos had also seized a massive 1,665kg haul of skunk along the Lekki-Ajah expressway. The swift operation led to the arrest of two suspects, Gidado Abdulrasaq Ayinde and Obanla Oluwafemi, who are now assisting investigations. The seizure has dealt a significant blow to drug syndicates operating in the commercial capital.

In Kaduna, NDLEA patrol teams intercepted 29-year-old Goodluck Nnaemeka on the Abuja-Kaduna expressway in possession of 612 bottles of codeine-based syrup and 2,970 pills of the psychoactive drug flunitrazepam. The same day, operatives apprehended a notorious drug dealer, Kabiru Musa (alias KB), in Kurmin Mashi after earlier recovering 25.7kg of skunk from his hideout.

Edo State also witnessed high-impact arrests, including the interception of 9kg of Loud ingeniously hidden inside a spare tyre compartment of a vehicle driven by one Atari Israel, 45. Additionally, two young women, Favour Joy and Joy Igwe, were nabbed in Benin City’s Ikpoba Hill area with a cache of drugs including 106.57kg skunk, 1kg Loud, 800 grams Colorado, and 302 grams of methamphetamine.

Beyond enforcement, the Agency’s advocacy arm continues its nationwide campaign under the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) initiative. In the past week, NDLEA teams delivered sensitization lectures in schools across Katsina, Ebonyi, Cross River, Lagos, and Anambra states, while Zone 13 operatives paid an advocacy visit to the traditional ruler of Nembe Kingdom, Dr. Edmund Dakoru, reinforcing the message of prevention and community engagement.

Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the Lagos, Kaduna, and Edo Commands for their dedication, while also praising officers nationwide for maintaining a strategic balance between drug supply reduction and demand reduction. “This synergy is vital in achieving lasting impact in the fight against substance abuse,” he noted.

As part of its commitment to national development, fasnewsng.com continues to collaborate with the NDLEA in spotlighting the Agency’s efforts to dismantle drug networks, protect communities, and educate the public on the dangers of drug abuse, because every seized parcel is a life potentially saved.

By Fikunmi Sokoya