Massive Cocaine Shipment Concealed in Dry Fish Heads Uncovered by NDLEA

A sizable shipment of cocaine hidden in the heads of imported dry stock fish headed for India has been apprehended by National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) agents.

According to a statement released on Sunday, Femi Babafemi, Director of Media and Advocacy at the NDLEA Headquarters in Abuja, revealed that the illegal drug was taken from a gang that distributes the shipment to several countries, particularly India.

According to NDLEA, information about the drug syndicate’s transnational criminal activities led to their dismantling.

According to the statement, “two hundred and thirty-seven (237) wraps of cocaine buried in the heads of imported dry stock fish known locally as “Okporoko” were found during a search of the bags.” The bulk weight of the cocaine pellets is 5.80 kg. The shipment was supposed to be exported to Delhi, India.

On Wednesday, March 25, NDLEA agents from the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) conducted another operation in Lagos where they stopped two illegal shipments that were being sent to the UK at a courier service.

1.9 kilograms of methamphetamine were discovered hidden in car filters in one of the shipments that came from Cotonou, Benin Republic, while the second package contained 40 ampoules of morphine sulphate and nine ampoules of fentanyl.

The statement further revealed that on Thursday, March 26, agents from the Agency’s Special Operations Unit conducted a significant interdiction operation at the home of 46-year-old Omolade Abigail Jolayemi, the head of a known drug syndicate, at 13 Carter Street, Yaba, Lagos.

“We arrested her and her sales girl, Sarah Zainab Agbabiaka, 31,” said the statement. They were found to have 135 blocks of Ghana Loud, a variety of cannabis that weighed 76.30 kg. Omolade, also known as Iya Ghana, operates a drug distribution network between Ghana and Nigeria under the guise of a local cloth trader.

Additionally, on Thursday, March 26, NDLEA agents detained Oke Samuel, an 80-year-old grandfather, during a special raid operation at Mosafuneto Camp, Erinmo Road, Efon-Alaaye, Ekiti State.

“A total of 2.2 kg of skunk and 1.8 grams of methamphetamine were recovered from him, while 894.72 kg of the same psychoactive substance was seized from another suspect, Enuwa Kehinde Kingsley, 37, when an unfinished building was raided by NDLEA officers at Ogbese, in Akure North area of Ondo state,” the NDLEA officers reported. On Tuesday, March 24, a raid operation in Pevi village, Guma LGA, Benue state, yielded at least 116.7 kg of skunk from a suspect named Saater Nyam, 35. Meanwhile, on Monday, March 23, NDLEA agents in Edo state discovered a warehouse in Ekpoma town, Esan West LGA, which resulted in the arrest of a suspect named Felix Donald, 25, and the seizure of 33 bottles of codeine-based syrup.

On Tuesday, March 24, NDLEA operatives in Taraba State, following on reliable information, stopped a truck with the license plate DUT 457 ZB that was transporting 100 blocks of compressed skunk, totaling 135 kg, from Garbachede to Gombe State. The blocks were hidden inside sacks of animal feed.

According to the announcement, two suspects were apprehended in relation to the seizure: Osama Mamuda, 21, and Auwal Umar, 22.

The Chairman of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the officers and men of the Agency’s MMIA, SOU, DOGI, Ekiti, Ondo, Benue, Edo, and Taraba Commands for the arrests and seizures made over the past week. He also commended their counterparts in every command nationwide for attempting to strike a fair balance between their efforts to reduce drug supply and demand.

View photos: