Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested Shodunke Yetunde Simbiat, a suspected female drug baron and key member of a notorious cross-border drug trafficking syndicate, following a 20-month manhunt triggered by the earlier arrest of the cartel’s leaders.
This development was disclosed in a statement released on Sunday, December 21, 2025, by NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi.
According to the agency, the cocaine trafficking network was previously led by a couple, Bolanle Lookman Dauda and Olayinka Toheebat Dauda, who were apprehended during coordinated NDLEA operations in Lagos and Ogun states. The crackdown led to the seizure of cocaine worth several billions of naira.
The statement revealed that Simbiat, who had gone into hiding since May 2024, was eventually tracked down and arrested at her residence in Lagos. During a search of her home, NDLEA operatives discovered an additional 23.50 kilograms of cocaine hidden in a suitcase inside her children’s room.
Detailing the earlier arrests, the agency stated that Lookman and Toheebat were apprehended on Saturday, May 25, 2024, by a special operations unit along the Lagos–Badagry Expressway at Ibiye, as they attempted to cross the land border en route to Ghana. At the time of their arrest, officers recovered 42 blocks of cocaine weighing 47.5 kilograms.
A follow-up raid at their residence in Agbara, Ogun State, led to the recovery of eight more blocks of cocaine weighing 10 kilograms, bringing the total quantity seized from the couple to 57.5 kilograms.
NDLEA noted that continued intelligence gathering and surveillance eventually identified 39-year-old Simbiat as a major stash keeper for the syndicate. She was arrested at her residence on Onasanya Street, Surulere, Lagos, on Tuesday, December 9, 2025. Investigators recovered cocaine weighing 23.50 kilograms from her apartment, with Simbiat admitting ownership of the drugs, valued at over ₦5 billion on the streets.
In separate operations, NDLEA officers at the Terminal II departure hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, intercepted a 36-year-old businessman, Nwanwene Robinson Destiny, on Thursday, December 18, while attempting to board a Royal Air Maroc flight to Milan, Italy. A search of his luggage revealed 1,020 pills of tramadol 225mg and tapentadol 200mg concealed inside. The suspect reportedly claimed he stood to earn €200 from delivering the drugs.
At the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, NDLEA operatives also arrested a 48-year-old Beninese national, Leocardi Josu, with 3,400 tablets of tramadol 225mg while attempting to enter Nigeria. Another suspect, Abdullahi Adamu, 30, was apprehended along the Okene–Lokoja highway with 28.4 kilograms of skunk and Colorado, a synthetic cannabis variant.
In Oyo State, officers recovered 125,000 tramadol capsules and 1,800 ampoules of pentazocine injection from a Toyota Hiace bus along the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway on Friday, December 19. Additionally, two suspects, Ogunlade Kazeem, 54, and Adeleke Ismail, 30, were arrested at Challenge Motor Park in Ibadan with 185.4 kilograms of skunk.
Further operations in Osun State led to the seizure of 405 kilograms of skunk during a raid on the Owena/Ijesha forest, where a suspect, Charles James, 45, was arrested. On the same day, another suspect, Jamilu Zakari, 42, was apprehended along the Abuja–Kaduna highway with 14,960 tablets of tramadol 225mg concealed inside kolanut sacks reportedly being transported from Abuja to Gusau, Zamfara State.
