NDLEA intercepts colos shipments from UK, opioids in bread, speakers

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted two shipments of synthetic cannabis, popularly called Colorado or Colos, concealed in consolidated cargoes coming from the United Kingdom.

Also, two other consignments of the dangerous substance hidden in music speakers were recovered from two motor parks in Lagos, where at least seven suspects connected to the seized cargoes have been arrested.

In a statement on Sunday, the NDLEA said its operatives at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, intercepted the UK-inbound consignment concealed in 27 parcels of weighing 32.20kg.

A real estate agent Abideen Jide Salami, who showed up with a secret collection code relayed from his UK-based brother to collect the illicit substance was arrested on Wednesday 9th September 2026.

A follow-up operation stemming from a second UK consignment led operatives to the designated recipient of another Colorado consignment weighing 12.25kg.

The suspect Nurudeen Abiodun Kadiri, 44, said the consignment was sent to him by his brother in the UK.

Meanwhile, operatives of the NDLEA Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) have intercepted a music speaker rigged with three packs of Colorado at a motor park in Maza Maza, Lagos, heading to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, and Liberia.

A tour agent Ifeanyi Obed Augustine, 41, and the consignment’s owner Obasi Ugochuckwu, 46, were both arrested after a swift sting operation at a nearby eatery.

In a separate operation at Iddo park in Lagos, a suspect Ifeanyi Nwokolo Henry was on Friday 11th September nabbed while attempting to dispatch 2.1kg of Colorado to Kano.

Also, two separate arrests at Ughelli and Asaba in Delta State, yielded a haul of ampoules of pentazocine injection, codeine syrup, tramadol, diazepam, flunitrazepam (hypnox) and MDMA (Molly), with several of them concealed in music speakers, while two suspects: Emeka Oji and Chukwuebuka Anedi were arrested.

In Kano, a raid at Sabon Gari led to the arrest of a 20-year-old suspect Saidu Adamu with a staggering 785,000 capsules of Pregabalin weighing 669.425kg.

Similarly, a stop-and-search operation along the Zaria–Kano–Hadejia road netted 1,700 tablets of diazepam concealed inside loaves of bread seized from one Habibu Sabitu, 28, even as 51-year-old Chinedu Uzor was nabbed at Katako market, Jos, Plateau state, with 157,100 capsules of tramadol.

The Agency also sustained pressure on illicit cannabis cultivation with the destruction of 4,832.56 kilograms of skunk on cannabis farms at Usen Forest, Igwe-Oke Forest and Ogboha Forest, in Ovia South West, Owan  East and Owan West LGA, Edo state where a suspect Sunday Segun, 39, was arrested on Friday 11th September.

In Ondo state, NDLEA officers acting on credible intelligence on Wednesday 9th September raided a residence along Oke-Iya, Ijoka Road, Akure, where they recovered 186kg of skunk concealed in the boot of a Toyota Avalon car marked ABJ 917 FV, from a 58-year-old suspect Paul Ogbuwala who was planning to move the consignment to Jos for onward distribution.

In Kaduna, a female suspect Hannah Michael was arrested at Gonin Gora with 369.6kg of cannabis, while in Bayelsa State, four suspects including a 70-year-old woman Godwoman Gboriye were arrested at Ovom, Yenagoa, with 110 bags of cannabis weighing 876kg. Others are: Motombo Silver, 44; Pere Andrew, 39, and ⁠Keme Andrew, 43.