Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted two drug kingpins attempting to smuggle heroin into Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, and the Port Harcourt International Airport (PHIA), Rivers State.

One of the traffickers, Onyekwonike Elochuckwu Sylvanus, 30, who also goes by the Sierra Leonean identity Kargbo Mohamed Foday, was apprehended on February 2, 2025, at the Port Harcourt airport while arriving on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha via Abuja. A body scan confirmed that he had ingested illicit substances, and under excretion observation, he expelled 62 wraps of heroin weighing 1.348kg in five excretions. Investigations revealed that Sylvanus alternates between his Nigerian and Sierra Leonean identities for drug trafficking missions across Thailand, Pakistan, Iran, and West Africa. He admitted to joining the illicit trade in 2017 after his clothing and shoe business collapsed.

Similarly, James Herbert Chinoso, 48, was arrested on February 1, 2025, at the Lagos airport upon arrival from Madagascar via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on an Ethiopian Airlines flight. A body scan confirmed he had ingested illicit drugs, leading to his placement under observation. He later excreted 63 wraps of heroin, weighing 909 grams. Chinoso, who had traveled to Madagascar on January 26, 2025, confessed to engaging in drug trafficking after his phone accessories business in Liberia failed.

In a series of other operations, NDLEA operatives intercepted multiple consignments of illicit substances. On February 6, officers from the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) seized 2.82kg of Loud, a synthetic cannabis strain from the U.S., at a courier firm in Lagos. Another interception at a different logistics company led to the confiscation of 80 ampoules of pentazocine injection (225 grams) concealed in cartons destined for Canada.

In Kano, NDLEA officers arrested Usaini Salisu and Yahaya Mu’azu, both 23, at Gadar Tamburawa along Zaria Road on February 3, where they were caught with 15,396 Tramadol pills concealed inside a gas cylinder. On the same day, a 35-year-old female suspect, Chioma Okeke, was nabbed in Sabon Gari, Kano, with 27 blocks of skunk cannabis weighing 15kg. Similarly, on February 8, NDLEA officers on patrol along the Kabba-Obajana highway in Kogi State intercepted a consignment of 12,800 Tramadol 250mg pills en route to Shuwarin, Jigawa State, leading to the arrest of 33-year-old Salisu Basiru. The same day, 65 parcels of Colorado synthetic cannabis, weighing 1.6kg and also bound for Jigawa, were recovered from another suspect, Rufai Hassan, 32.

As part of its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign, NDLEA intensified sensitization efforts in schools, religious centers, workplaces, and communities nationwide. Awareness programs were conducted at institutions including Saint Secondary School, Abakaliki, Ebonyi; Taangayar Malam Abubakar Bichi Almajiri School, Kano; Federal Government Girls College, Calabar; College of Nursing and Science, Birnin Kebbi; and Meiran Community Junior Secondary School, Abule Egba, Lagos.

Commending the agency’s officers for their efforts, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), praised their operational successes and their balanced approach to drug supply reduction and demand reduction. He reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to tackling drug trafficking and abuse across Nigeria.