NDLEA recovers N5bn cocaine hidden in children apartment

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a suspected drug trafficker, Shodunke Simbiat, recovering cocaine worth about N5bn concealed inside her children at her Lagos apartment on December 9.

In a statement on Sunday, the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said that following sustained intelligence gathering and surveillance, NDLEA operatives identified 39-year-old Simbiat as a key member and stash keeper of a trans-border drug trafficking organisation.

The statement partly read, “A swift follow-up operation at their residence at Plot 24/25, OPIC Extension, Petedo Road, Agbara, Ogun State, led to the recovery of an additional eight blocks of the same drug weighing 10 kilograms, bringing the total consignment seized from the couple to 57.5 kilograms.

“Determined to rein in every member of the syndicate, NDLEA operatives continued intelligence and surveillance on the trans-border drug trafficking organisation until 39-year-old female stash keeper Shodunke Simbiat was identified as a key member of the DTO.

“As a result, she was trailed to her residence at 31 Onasanya Street, Surulere, Lagos, on Tuesday, December 9, 2025.

“A thorough search of her home led to the discovery of blocks of cocaine weighing 23.50 kilograms, concealed in a black suitcase recovered from her children’s room. She admitted ownership of the drug consignment, valued at over N5bn in street value.”

The arrest comes about 20 months after NDLEA operatives dismantled a cocaine cartel led by Bolanle Lookman Dauda and Olayinka Toheebat Dauda, seizing multi-billion-naira worth of cocaine.

The couple was arrested on Saturday, May 25, 2024, at Ibiye along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway while attempting to cross the land border to deliver cocaine to Ghana. At the point of arrest, Babafemi said, 42 blocks of cocaine weighing 47.5 kilograms were recovered.

A follow-up operation at their residence at Plot 24/25, OPIC Extension, Petedo Road, Agbara, Ogun State, led to the recovery of eight additional blocks weighing 10 kilograms, bringing the total seizure from the couple to 57.5 kilograms.

He added that NDLEA operatives at Terminal II departure hall of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, in a separate operation on Thursday, arrested a 36-year-old businessman, Nwanwene Robinson Destiny, while attempting to board a Royal Air Maroc flight to Milan, Italy.

According to NDLEA, a total of 1,020 pills of Tramadol 225mg and Tapentadol 200mg were found concealed in his luggage.

The suspect claimed he would have been paid €200 for delivering the opioids in Italy.

Also, at the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, NDLEA officers on Thursday, December 18, arrested a 48-year-old Beninese national, Leocardi Josu, while attempting to enter Nigeria with 3,400 tablets of Tramadol 225mg.

“A suspect, Abdullahi Adamu, 30, was nabbed along the Okene/Lokoja highway with 28.4 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis and Colorado, a synthetic cannabis, on Friday, December 19. In Oyo State, NDLEA operatives recovered 125,000 capsules of Tramadol and 1,800 ampoules of pentazocine injection in a Toyota Hiace bus marked XD 592 AWL along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

“Two suspects, Ogunlade Kazeem, 54, and Adeleke Ismail, 30, were also arrested with 185.4 kilograms of skunk at Challenge Motor Park, Ibadan, on Wednesday, December 17,” the statement added.

In Osun State, NDLEA operatives seized 405 kilograms of skunk during a raid on the Owena/Ijesha forest, where a 45-year-old suspect, Charles James, was arrested on Friday, December 19.

On the same day, Babafemi said another suspect, Jamilu Zakari, 42, was arrested at a tollgate along the Abuja–Kaduna highway with 14,960 pills of Tramadol 225mg, concealed in two kolanut sacks while travelling from Abuja to Gusau, Zamfara State.

Commending officers of the Special Operations Unit and commands at MMIA, Seme, Kogi, Kaduna, Oyo, and Osun for the arrests and seizures, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), urged them to remain vigilant during the festive season and maintain professionalism in drug supply and demand reduction efforts.