By Deborah Nnamdi
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled a social media–based drug syndicate that allegedly distributed illicit substances disguised as imported Christmas cookies and snacks in the Lekki area of Lagos.
The agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, announced in a statement on Sunday that operatives arrested two suspected masterminds of the network during a raid in Ikate, Lekki. The suspects, identified as Deji Adesanya and Olubiyi Majekodunmi, were found with a large quantity of designer packaging sachets and five kilograms of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, which they allegedly repackaged and sold through a WhatsApp platform.
The NDLEA acted on credible intelligence before storming the suspects’ apartment on Ojulari Street on November 22, where the illicit items were recovered.
In a separate operation in Lagos, the agency arrested a 38-year-old alleged drug kingpin, Philip Ucheka, on November 27 in the Ladipo area of Mushin as he received 110 pouches of Canadian Loud weighing 55.6kg. Three delivery vehicles reportedly used for distribution were also seized.
NDLEA officers also intercepted a parcel containing 100 grams of Loud hidden inside a teddy bear imported from Thailand at a courier company in Lagos. At another logistics firm, operatives seized 548 tramadol capsules concealed in Vitamin C and Magnesium bottles destined for the United Kingdom.
In Oyo State, the agency arrested 55-year-old Wasiu Kareem with 8,000 ampoules of pentazocine, 590 bottles of codeine syrup, 1,500 Co-codamol pills, and 9,900 tramadol capsules.
