National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a convicted cocaine trafficker who allegedly disguised himself as a herbal tea businessman while masterminding illicit drug shipments, including a 1.2kg cocaine consignment destined for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, adding that the arrest followed intelligence-led operations after the cocaine shipment was intercepted at a courier company in Lagos on July 31, 2026.
Babafemi said the suspect, identified as 34-year-old Dunu Bethel Ebubechukwu, was arrested in a sting operation at Article Market, opposite Trade Fair Market, in the Ojo area of Lagos, on Friday, September 4, while posing as a herbal tea businessman.
He said Ebubechukwu admitted being the mastermind of some illicit drug shipments in the past and said he discarded his telephone SIM card after learning that his latest consignment had been intercepted.
“Further investigation revealed the suspect is no stranger to the Agency: he was first arrested in 2011 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja Lagos after ingesting 900grams of cocaine and 130grams of heroin in an attempt to fly to Austria under the name Dunu Chukwuyenre Enoch.
“He was prosecuted for the crime, convicted and sentenced to five years in jail. He thereafter changed his name to Dunu Bethel Ebubechukwu and returned to the criminal trade,” Babafemi said.
He said a search of the suspect’s residence at 6 Yemishola Street, Ejigbo, Lagos, on Friday led to the recovery of phone chargers similar to those used to conceal the intercepted cocaine, with their internal components removed to create space for drugs.
Babafemi said the arrest was part of a coordinated crackdown by the agency across nine states, during which operatives also intercepted a 20,000-liter fuel tanker fitted with a concealed compartment for illicit drugs and recovered large consignments of cannabis, tramadol, methamphetamine and other psychotropic substances.
At the Lagos airport, he said NDLEA operatives recovered 966,200 tablets of tramadol 225mg, valued at over N1.1bn, concealed among thrift trousers in a 21-carton consignment from Pakistan.
They also recovered 57.80kg of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis valued at over N173m in street value, hidden inside cartons of disposable hand gloves in a shipment from Singapore.
The consignment, Babafemi said, had remained unclaimed for weeks before a joint examination involving NDLEA officers, Customs and other security agencies on Thursday, September 3.
In another operation, NDLEA officers pursued a 20,000-litre fuel tanker marked MKA 960 XC along the Akoko/Lokoja Expressway in Ondo State on Friday, September 4, after its driver allegedly refused to stop.
The driver later abandoned the tanker at a church premises in Ugbe Akoko and fled into the bush, according to Babafemi.
A search of the vehicle allegedly revealed a false compartment containing 165 bags of cannabis weighing 2,145kg alongside its legitimate fuel cargo destined for Jos, Plateau State.
At Tincan Port in Lagos, Babafemi said NDLEA operatives on Wednesday, September 2, intercepted 598.08kg, comprising 890 packets, of cannabis-infused cookies and gummies in a 40-foot container.
He said the seizure was linked to three suspects — Yashim Dauji, Larry Ifeanyi and Joseph Moji — who were arrested at the port about a month earlier over the seizure of 842.54kg of cannabis-laced cookies.
In Adamawa State, NDLEA operatives recovered 864,000 pills of opioids, particularly tramadol, from a residence linked to a fleeing suspect, Patrick KC Frank, in the Damilu and Jambutu axis of Jimeta, Yola North Local Government Area, on Friday.
Babafemi said Frank’s Honda Civic car rammed an NDLEA patrol vehicle before he escaped.
In another operation in Michika, Adamawa State, a 35-year-old methamphetamine supplier, Calistus Ebubechukwu, was arrested with 2kg of the substance on Friday.
Babafemi also said Attahiru Hussaini was intercepted at the Namtari checkpoint in Mubi on Monday, August 31, with tramadol and other opioids allegedly concealed in a soap-laden Ford Galaxy bus marked JJM-953XD.
The statement said, “In Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Friday 4th September recovered 2,386.9kg of cannabis, 350grams of cocaine, over 100kg of assorted tramadol grades, 9.7 litres of codeine syrup and 4kg of rohypnol at Gbaji area of the state, while two suspects: Damilare Francis and Emeh Emmanuel were arrested with 720kg of cannabis at Agbara area.
“Three suspects: Saidu Mustapha, 35; Zaharadeen Salisu, 29; and AbdulSalam Abdullahi, 25, were nabbed with 636kg of cannabis concealed in chicken manure aboard a bus travelling from Owo, Ondo state to Jos, Plateau state along Okene/Lokoja highway in Kogi state.
“In Taraba, 58-year-old Kelechi Unachukwu, was arrested along Zaki-Biam road, Wukari LGA with a cocktail of over 109kg of tramadol, diazepam, pentazocine, phenobarbital, exol-5, nitrazepam, bromazepam and pregabalin being conveyed in his Toyota Corolla car marked KUJ-333BT from Onitsha, Anambra state to Yola, Adamawa state.
“A truck loaded with bags of cement was intercepted by NDLEA operatives along the Zaria-Kano expressway, Kaduna with 1,179kg of skunk recovered while a suspect Hamza Dahiru, 25, was arrested by NDLEA operatives in Bauchi in a follow up operation following the seizure of 322.5kg of cannabis at Deba town, Gombe state on Tuesday 1st September.
“In Ekiti state, two suspects: Chuks Alex, 50, and Asafa Adekunle, 35, were arrested after NDLEA operatives uncovered and destroyed a 4-hectare cannabis farm in Efon-Alaaye forest, recovering 117kg of already-harvested skunk, just as a 20-year-old Obinna David, was arrested at Ugbema Junction, Enugu with 40,590 capsules of tramadol on Saturday 5th September.”
Babafemi said the agency’s commands and formations across the country also continued their War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities during the week.
He said the activities included WADA enlightenment lectures for nursing mothers and nurses at Ibereko Primary Health Centre, Abeokuta North, Ogun State; youths of Umouji/Okwo community at Olokoro, Umuahia South Local Government Area, Abia State; and NLNG staff and concessionaires at the Saipem-Daewoo, NLNG terminal, Bonny Local Government Area, Rivers State, among others.
The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers and men of the agency’s DOGI, MMIA, Ondo, Tincan, Lagos, Adamawa, Kaduna, Bauchi, Ekiti, Kogi, Taraba and Enugu commands for their professionalism and intelligence-driven approach to the operations.
Marwa urged them and other personnel across the country to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control.
He added that traffickers who believed they could reinvent themselves under new identities or legitimate business fronts would continue to be tracked down.
