NDLEA Seizes ₦3.9bn Tramadol Hidden in Crayfish at Lagos Airport, Arrests Indian Businessman and Accomplices.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted a massive consignment of tramadol valued at ₦3.9 billion at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos. The drugs, which were disguised as multivitamins and smuggled in from India, were uncovered during an ongoing nationwide crackdown on illicit substances.

NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi revealed that operatives had been monitoring the suspicious cargo before moving in on September 11. Two drivers and a clearing agent were first apprehended while attempting to move the shipment out of the airport.

A follow-up operation led to the arrest of Indian businessman Gupta Ravi Kumar, who tried to take delivery of the drugs, along with three Nigerians identified as Ogunlana Olanrewaju, Olushola Kayode, and Bakare Muheeb. The consignment, flown in from Delhi via Ethiopian Airlines, was described as one of the agency’s biggest seizures in recent months.

The operation did not stop there. At the same airport, officials also caught a first-time traveller, Onyeganochi Stanley Ifeanyi, with skunk carefully concealed inside crayfish. His accomplice, Ohadiegwu Anthony Uchenna, was later tracked down and arrested at a nearby hotel with additional drugs in his possession.

Across Lagos, NDLEA operatives seized 81 kilograms of Canadian Loud and hashish oil at Tincan Port and intercepted another 65 kilograms of cannabis on the Third Mainland Bridge.

A factory producing “skuchies,” a cocktail made from cannabis and black currant drink, was also uncovered in Ikorodu, where thousands of bottles and large quantities of cannabis were confiscated.

Similar raids across the country intensified the agency’s crackdown. In Kano, officers recovered 100,000 tramadol pills and other narcotics. In Anambra, a couple was arrested with large quantities of methamphetamine and skunk.

Edo State operatives destroyed nearly 17 tonnes of cannabis at a plantation while recovering additional processed drugs. Further arrests and seizures were also made in Oyo, Yobe, Ogun, and Abuja.

The NDLEA noted with concern the growing involvement of foreign nationals in Nigeria’s drug trade, warning that international trafficking networks are increasingly using the country as a transit hub.