The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 37-year-old businessman, Ani Onyebuchi Romans, for allegedly trafficking 5.3 kilograms of tramadol concealed inside full-body mannequins and bound for Cameroun.
The agency disclosed this in a statement issued on Sunday, January 11, 2026, by its Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, at the NDLEA headquarters in Abuja.
According to the statement, Romans was intercepted by NDLEA operatives along the Oron–Ibaka Road in Oron Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State while returning from the Christmas and New Year holidays. Investigations revealed that the suspect, who claimed to reside in Cameroun, allegedly purchased the tramadol in Onitsha, Anambra State, and concealed the opioids in two mannequins to evade detection while transporting them across the border for sale.
The agency said the arrest underscores the growing trend of cross-border opioid trafficking and the increasingly creative concealment methods adopted by drug traffickers. It added that the operation was a product of intensified surveillance and intelligence-led enforcement.
In a separate operation in Akwa Ibom State, NDLEA operatives arrested an 80-year-old ex-convict, Jeremiah Isaiah Nkanta, barely three years after he completed a two-year prison sentence for drug trafficking. Acting on credible intelligence, officers tracked Nkanta to his residence in Mmanta–Abak village, Abak Local Government Area, on Saturday, January 10, 2026, where 5.7 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis, were recovered.
The agency also recorded multiple arrests and seizures across several states. In Ibadan, Oyo State, NDLEA operatives arrested 45-year-old Remi Bamidele, also known as “Aluko the Mafia,” with 10.696 kilograms of various cannabis strains, including Colorado, Scottish Loud, Ghana Loud, Canadian Loud, and skunk, with two vehicles recovered. Other suspects arrested in the state included Adeola Toheeb, 27, and Habeeb Ali, 29, who was found with 1.264 kilograms of cannabis and N1,307,100 in cash.
In Edo State, Osagbovo Edigin, 30, Ebimi Labo, 28, and Akhimie Success, 25, were arrested with Canadian Loud and Colorado, while Jimoh Agbonmhegbe, 49, and Evelyn Okoyomon, 38, were also apprehended with significant quantities of cannabis. In Taraba State, Yusuf Usman, 41, was arrested with 100 blocks of skunk weighing 47 kilograms, while in Niger State, Nazifi Umar, 22, was caught with 4,000 tramadol 225mg pills. In Adamawa State, NDLEA operatives arrested Ugwoke Chibueze, 40, at the Lamido Aliyu Mustapha International Airport, Yola, and recovered 30,950 capsules of tramadol from his residence.
The NDLEA reiterated its commitment to dismantling drug trafficking networks nationwide and across borders, warning traffickers that intensified operations and intelligence-driven interventions would continue to frustrate attempts to move illicit drugs within and outside the country.
