NDLEA Intercepts 2.55 Million Opioid Pills at Lagos Airport in Year's Biggest Haul
By Aboki Forex —
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has seized 2.55 million opioid pills weighing 1,640.55kg in three consignments at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
The agency announced the interception in a statement issued by its Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday. The haul is one of its biggest opioid seizures of the year.
What was found at MMIA
Operatives uncovered the drugs on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, during a joint examination of three monitored consignments at the import shed of the MMIA in Ikeja, Lagos.
The consignments contained Tramaking 225mg, Tramaking 250mg and Royal Tapentadol 250mg. They were imported from India and Bangladesh through Qatar Airways, RwandAir and Ethiopian Airlines.
"At the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Tuesday 22nd September 2026 uncovered one of the year's biggest opioid hauls during a joint examination of three monitored consignments, leading to the seizure of Two Million Five Hundred and Fifty-Five Thousand (2,550,000) pills of Tramaking 225mg, Tramaking 250mg, and Royal Tapentadol 250mg, with a combined gross weight of 1,640.55 kilograms," the statement read.
"The consignments were imported from India and Bangladesh via Qatar Airways, RwandAir, and Ethiopian Airlines."
The seizure adds to a run of major opioid interceptions at the Lagos airport in recent months, including consignments of Tramaking, Tapentadol and other controlled substances.
Arrests in Lagos, Oyo, Edo, Bauchi and Enugu
The agency also reported arrests and seizures across Lagos, Oyo, Edo and Bauchi states during the week.
At the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu, operatives arrested 25-year-old businessman Lovely Chukwulobelu with 72 wraps of cocaine he allegedly ingested while attempting to travel to Portugal through Addis Ababa.
In Oyo State, two Togolese nationals, Yinusa Abdulsamad, 35, and Fatai Baba, 33, were arrested along the Iganna-Ilero Road with 305.6kg of skunk concealed in two pickup vans.
At the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, five suspects were arrested with 420 cartons of nitrous oxide weighing 1,688.4kg. Two vehicles allegedly used to move the consignment were recovered.
In Bauchi, operatives arrested Umar Hamidu, 35, and Abdulkarim Salihu, 45, with 262.5kg of skunk hidden in the false bottom of a truck.
In Edo State, officers supported by soldiers destroyed two cannabis farms at Eko Camp, Ilushi, with an estimated combined yield of 1,360.23kg.
The agency also reported arrests and drug recoveries in Mushin and Ebute-Ero in Lagos, while its commands continued War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation activities nationwide.
Enugu meth lab and foreign links
The seizures came days after the NDLEA announced it had dismantled a Nigerian-Mexican drug cartel running a clandestine methamphetamine laboratory in Eziama community, Obeagu, Awgu Local Government Area of Enugu State.
The operation led to the arrest of Chukwu Obumneme Christopher, 45, also known as Brown, and Chukwu Georginus Monday, 60, alias George. NDLEA said they allegedly worked with Rodriguez Villanueva, a Mexican cartel member based in Mexico City.
The suspects were arraigned before the Federal High Court in Enugu on five charges relating to conspiracy, organising and financing a drug trafficking organisation, and unlawful possession of precursor chemicals. They pleaded to the charges, and the court fixed October 21, 2026, for trial. Three other suspects named in the charges remain at large.
A search of the Obeagu compound uncovered a laboratory equipped for large-scale methamphetamine production, alongside chemicals and equipment. A separate search of George's residence recovered 11kg of ephedrine and other equipment.
The agency had earlier linked Mexican national Arturo Carrera Loaiza, arrested at the Lagos airport, to a methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State. It said Loaiza recruited another Mexican, 56-year-old Jose Villa Ochoa, to work at a clandestine laboratory in Oyo State. Ochoa was arrested alongside four Nigerian collaborators on June 17, 2026.
In May, NDLEA said it dismantled a Nigerian-Mexican methamphetamine syndicate, recovering substances it valued at more than N480 billion and arresting 10 suspects. In June, it reported the seizure of 558,900 tablets of Tramadol 250mg in Lagos and the arrest of three suspected transnational drug traffickers.