NDLEA Seizes N3.9bn Tramadol, Arrests Indian, Three Nigerians

By Abiola Adigun

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested an Indian businessman, Gupta Ravi Kumar, alongside three Nigerian collaborators, over a consignment of tramadol valued at N3.9 billion intercepted at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
The suspects—identified as Ogunlana Noah Olanrewaju, Olushola Idrees Kayode, and Bakare Korede Muheeb—were apprehended following the seizure of 2,248,000 pills of tramadol disguised as multivitamins. The shipment, packed in 114 cartons, arrived on an Ethiopian Airline flight from Delhi, India, on September 8.
In a statement on Sunday, NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi said agency operatives, who had been monitoring the consignment, arrested a clearing agent and two drivers on September 11 while they attempted to move the drugs in two trucks from the airport’s import shed. Kumar was arrested the following day when he tried to take delivery of the shipment.
“This interception is another major success in our relentless fight against drug trafficking networks attempting to flood Nigeria with dangerous opioids,” Babafemi stated.
Beyond the tramadol seizure, the NDLEA also recorded other significant arrests. At the Lagos airport, operatives arrested Onyeganochi Stanley Ifeanyi, a first-time traveler on a Qatar Airline flight to Doha, after 900 grams of skunk—a potent strain of cannabis—was discovered concealed in crayfish.
According to Babafemi, Onyeganochi confessed that the bag was handed to him by a Qatar-based Nigerian, Ohadiegwu Anthony Uchenna, who was later arrested at the airport. A follow-up search of Uchenna’s hotel room in Ajao Estate uncovered an additional 200 grams of the same substance.
“He admitted he planned to return to Doha days later to retrieve the drugs if Onyeganochi had successfully evaded security checks,” Babafemi said.
Similarly, at the Tin Can Port in Lagos, NDLEA operatives, working with other security agencies, discovered 161 parcels of Canadian Loud—a strong variant of cannabis—alongside 1.2kg of hashish oil hidden in a 40ft container of vehicle spare parts imported from Montreal, Canada. The drugs, weighing 81.7kg in total, led to the arrest of two suspects, John Ochigbo, 53, and Okeke Kingsley, 26.
The NDLEA has intensified surveillance at Nigeria’s airports and seaports in recent years, following the rising inflow of illicit substances, especially tramadol, which has been linked to widespread abuse among young people and its use by insurgents and criminal groups.
Babafemi stressed that the agency remains committed to dismantling drug cartels and safeguarding Nigeria from the scourge of narcotics.