Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted multiple consignments of illicit drugs concealed in coffee sachets and book parcels bound for Zambia and the United Kingdom, while also detaining 22 Indian crew members of a merchant vessel over a major cocaine seizure at the Apapa seaport in Lagos.
The agency said the seizures at a Lagos courier company on December 24 and 29, 2025, included quantities of ketamine, ecstasy and tramadol pills hidden in sachets of coffee mix and book parcels.
In a related development, NDLEA operatives on Friday, January 2, 2026, arrested 22 Indian crew members of the vessel MV Aruna Hulya after 31.5 kilograms of cocaine were discovered in hatch three of the ship at the GDNL terminal, Apapa port, Lagos. The vessel reportedly originated from the Marshall Islands.
Those detained include the ship’s master, Sharma Shashi Bhushan, and 21 other crew members: Bharati Manoj Kumar, Bhalerao Nilesh Mukund, Nadar Anthony Macson David, Kolusu Srinivasa Rao, Sagar Gaurav, Francis Anto Beemas Nester, Jagdeep Singh, Jai Parkash, Prabhukhan Singh, Nevage Sandesh Suresh, Pandey Prashant, Nittu Anand, Akash Babu, Dasari Raju, Reddy Nandika Sanjeeba, Rana Nivesh, Melethil Insaf Rahman, Barla Chantanya Krishna, Ghosh Arijit, Mondal Raihan and Gangwar Shiv Om.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives in Oyo State arrested a wanted female drug kingpin, Fatima Ilori, popularly known as “Mama Kerosine,” in Ibadan on Monday, December 29, 2025. The 65-year-old was apprehended during an intelligence-led operation following the seizure of 238.4 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis, linked to her. Another female suspect, Olusanya Abosede, 35, was also arrested at the Onireke/Elekuro area of the state capital.
In Borno State, NDLEA said it disrupted drug supply chains to insurgents with the arrest of two suspects and the seizure of large quantities of tramadol. Isa Mohammed, 26, was arrested along the Maiduguri–Gamboru Ngala road with 9,150 ampoules of tramadol injection, while Musa Samaila, 30, was apprehended at Biu market with 34,000 capsules of tramadol on the same day.
The agency also recovered not less than 400 kilograms of skunk along with a van at the Mobolaji Johnson area of Lagos on New Year’s Day, January 1, 2026. In Jigawa State, a suspect, Bilya Ibrahim, 39, was arrested at a motor park in Hadejia on December 30, 2025, while attempting to transport 260 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 140.8 kilograms from Taraba State to Nguru, Yobe State.
In Kwara State, NDLEA officers on December 30 recovered 238.5 kilograms of skunk from a suspect’s residence in the Asadam area of Ilorin. Another suspect, Abubakar Rabiu, 32, was arrested at Bode Saadu, Moro Local Government Area, on December 31, 2025, with 32,000 pills of tramadol and diazepam.
The agency said its commands across the country also sustained advocacy efforts under the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign, with sensitisation programmes held in schools, communities, worship centres and workplaces in states including Katsina, Lagos and Niger.
Commending the officers of the DOGI, Apapa, Oyo, Borno, Lagos, Kwara and Jigawa commands for the arrests and seizures, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), urged personnel nationwide to intensify the agency’s drug control operations.