Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has uncovered one of the country’s largest illicit opioid warehouses, recovering drugs valued at more than ₦6.7 billion (approximately $4.5 millionUSD)
The agency said the operation, carried out by its Special Operations Unit, targeted a cartel allegedly preparing to distribute millions of opioid pills and bottles of codeine syrup ahead of the festive season. A suspected kingpin alongside five accomplices were arrested.
Acting on intelligence, officers raided a covert storage site inside a residential estate on Sunny Billa East Street in the Bucknor-Isheri area of Isolo between 19 and 20 November.
During the first phase of the operation, NDLEA personnel intercepted two alleged members of the syndicate at Apple Junction in Festac while they were transporting 300 cartons of opioids in a truck.
A follow-up raid on the warehouse the next day led to the arrest of the suspected ringleader, Onyekachi Pius Nwanagu, alongside Nwoye Sunday Ali, Nnacho Ogochukwu, and Oraghalia Chukwuebuka Philip.
In total, investigators recovered more than 7.2 million tramadol 225mg tablets – estimated at ₦3.96 billion – and approximately 53 million millilitres of codeine syrup, valued at ₦2.76 billion.
The drugs, packed in multiple cartons and concealed within the estate, were moved to the NDLEA’s central exhibit facility using eleven trucks.
