The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has uncovered and dismantled a social media network used to distribute illicit substances packaged as imported Christmas cookies and snacks. Two masterminds were arrested after a raid on their hideout in the Lekki area of Lagos.
The drug syndicate, run by Deji Adesanya and Olubiyi Majekodunmi, had imported consignments of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, and distributed it in colourful designer sachets bearing pictures and labels of cookies and snacks to disguise retail quantities of the psychoactive substance.
Following intelligence about the group’s operations—distributed primarily through a WhatsApp platform—NDLEA operatives raided their apartment on Ojulari Street, Ikate, Lekki, on Saturday, 22 November 2025, recovering large quantities of designer sachets and 5kg of Loud at the point of arrest.
In another Lagos operation, NDLEA officers arrested a 38-year-old drug kingpin, Philip Ucheka, on Thursday, 27 November, as he took delivery of 110 pouches of Canadian Loud (55.6kg) at Ladipo, Mushin. Three delivery vehicles were also seized.
At a Lagos courier company, 100 grams of Loud concealed in a teddy bear imported from Thailand were intercepted on Thursday, 27 November, while 548 capsules of tramadol hidden in bottles of Vitamin C and Magnesium bound for the UK were found the following day, Friday 28 November, at another logistics firm.
In Oyo State, NDLEA officers patrolling the Lagos-Ibadan expressway on Saturday, 29 November, nabbed Wasiu Kareem, 55, with 8,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 590 bottles of codeine syrup, 1,500 Co-codamol pills, and 9,900 capsules of tramadol.
No fewer than seven suspects, including John Ede, Ede Ndubuisi, Ikenna Abe, Eze Chukwuma, Maduabuchi Odo, Nnaji Chudubem, and Gorge Okowor, were arrested on Monday, 24 November, when NDLEA operatives raided Ipe forest in Akoko South East, Ondo State, where they recovered 3,077kg of skunk (cannabis).
Anthony Sylvester, 49, was arrested with 649kg of skunk along Okene/Lokoja highway in Kogi on Wednesday, 26 November, while Seme Special Area Command officers in Lagos raided a warehouse at Ashipa, Seme border, on Friday, 28 November, arresting Abubakar Shuaibu, 33, with 487 blocks of skunk weighing 243.5kg.
In Kano, Tsalha Alasan, 47, was arrested on Zaria-Kano road with 137kg of skunk on Monday, 24 November. Three others—Godspower Appeal, 50; Ernest Upong, 55; and Godday Chukwudi, 38—were nabbed with 322 blocks of skunk (209kg) in Bauchi on Wednesday, 26 November. A black Toyota Highlander (ABJ 533 EA) used for consignment delivery was also recovered.
John Ekojo, 51, was arrested with 210.15kg of skunk along Abuja/Jos highway on Saturday, 29 November. Abdullahi Abubakar, 45, and Jamila Abdullahi, 35, were detained with 725 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition concealed in maize on Abuja/Kaduna highway, while Awwal Sabiu, 20, was caught with 400 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition at Abuja/Kaduna tollgate on Friday, 28 November.
Meanwhile, NDLEA commands nationwide continued War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation in schools, workplaces, and communities. These included lectures at Government Junior Technical School (Kofar Kudu, Kano), Bright Eyes International (Abakaliki), dock workers at Tincan Port (Lagos), Legacy International College (Nsukka), and Seatos School (Ikorodu, Lagos).
NDLEA Chairman and CEO, Brig Gen Mohamed Marwa (rtd), commended officers of DOGI, and Lagos, Ondo, Oyo, Kogi, Kaduna, Kano, Seme, and Bauchi commands for their operations, urging all formations to sustain the agency’s balanced drug control efforts.