The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a convicted cocaine trafficker who allegedly returned to drug trafficking after serving a five-year prison sentence and later operated under a new identity while posing as a herbal tea businessman.
The suspect, identified as 34-year-old Dunu Bethel Ebubechukwu, was arrested during a sting operation at Article Market, opposite Trade Fair Market, in the Ojo area of Lagos, on Friday, September 4, 2026.
His arrest followed the interception of 1.2kg of cocaine concealed inside phone chargers at a courier company in Lagos on July 31. The consignment was allegedly destined for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said Ebubechukwu admitted to masterminding some illicit drug shipments and discarded his telephone SIM card after learning that his latest consignment had been intercepted.
The agency said further investigation showed that the suspect was no stranger to drug trafficking.
Babafemi said Ebubechukwu was first arrested in 2011 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, after allegedly ingesting 900g of cocaine and 130g of heroin while attempting to travel to Austria under the name Dunu Chukwuyenre Enoch.
He was prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to five years in prison before changing his name and allegedly returning to the illicit drug trade.
A search of his residence at Ejigbo, Lagos, also led to the recovery of phone chargers similar to those used to conceal the cocaine shipment, with their internal components removed to create space for drugs.
The arrest was part of a wider NDLEA crackdown across nine states that yielded large quantities of cannabis, tramadol, methamphetamine and other controlled substances.
At the Lagos airport, operatives recovered 966,200 tablets of tramadol 225mg, which the agency valued at more than N1.1bn.
The tablets were concealed among thrift trousers in a 21-carton consignment from Pakistan.
The agency also recovered 57.8kg of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, hidden inside cartons of disposable hand gloves in a shipment from Singapore.
The consignment had remained unclaimed for weeks before a joint examination involving NDLEA officers, Customs and other security agencies.
In Ondo State, operatives intercepted a 20,000-litre fuel tanker marked MKA 960 XC along the Akoko/Lokoja Expressway after its driver allegedly refused to stop.
The driver reportedly abandoned the tanker at a church premises in Ugbe Akoko and fled into the bush.
A search of the tanker allegedly uncovered a concealed compartment containing 165 bags of cannabis weighing 2,145kg. The vehicle was also carrying legitimate fuel destined for Jos, Plateau State.
At Tin Can Port in Lagos, NDLEA officers intercepted 598.08kg, comprising 890 packets, of cannabis-infused cookies and gummies concealed in a 40-foot container.
The agency linked the seizure to Yashim Dauji, Larry Ifeanyi and Joseph Moji, who had been arrested about a month earlier over a separate seizure involving 842.54kg of cannabis-laced cookies.
In Adamawa State, NDLEA operatives recovered 864,000 opioid pills, particularly tramadol, from a residence allegedly linked to fleeing suspect Patrick KC Frank in Jimeta, Yola North Local Government Area.
The agency said Frank escaped after his Honda Civic rammed an NDLEA patrol vehicle.
Another suspect, 35-year-old Calistus Ebubechukwu, was arrested in Michika with 2kg of methamphetamine.
NDLEA also reported additional arrests and seizures involving cannabis, tramadol, codeine syrup, rohypnol and other controlled substances in Lagos, Kogi, Taraba, Kaduna, Bauchi, Ekiti and Enugu states.
The agency said its commands across the country also continued sensitisation activities under its War Against Drug Abuse campaign in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended the officers involved in the operations and urged them to sustain the agency’s intelligence-driven approach.
Marwa said traffickers who believed they could evade law enforcement by changing identities or hiding behind legitimate businesses would continue to be tracked down.
