Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has smashed two major cocaine syndicates in Lagos, seizing six shipments headed for the UK and arresting six suspects, including the alleged ringleader, Alhaji Hammed Taofeek Ode, a self-proclaimed real estate mogul.
The operations, spanning three weeks of intel-led surveillance, kicked off on September 16, 2025, at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Ikeja. Officers first nabbed a cargo agent, which unraveled the first cartel. They intercepted 174 parcels of cocaine—totaling 13.4 kilograms—stuffed inside containers of cocoa butter body cream, all bound for Britain. The trail led straight to Ode, who was picked up with police help after a tense chase. Under questioning, the 27-year Europe and Middle East veteran fessed up to owning the haul, which he’d shelled out over ₦150 million for. Back in Nigeria since 2024, Ode insisted he was just a legit businessman flipping properties.
At the MMIA’s Strategic Command, the heat turned up on a second crew trying to slip five more loads past the gates. Furniture craftsman Smith David Korede from Oshodi got collared for three consignments—several kilos hidden in hair cream jars and stainless steel cups. Two more busts followed: one in crayfish packaging and another in cosmetics, snagging Ogunbiyi Oluseye Taiwo and Popoola Francis Olumuyiwa. That made six shipments total, all UK-bound.
NDLEA didn’t stop at the airport. Nationwide sweeps pulled in 6.3kg of Thailand-sourced “Loud” cannabis, plus 290,450 Tramadol and Pregabalin pills in Kano. Over in Kaduna, Kwara, Ogun, and Edo, they hauled nearly 500kg of skunk weed. Back in Lagos, a big fish called “SammyBless”—notorious for slinging in Lekki and Ajah—fell with 550 grams of Colorado on him. Raids there also netted 3,700+ bottles of codeine syrup and 550,000 dodgy diclofenac tabs. To top it off, agents torched 24,000kg of cannabis plots in Osun and Edo, rounding up growers and dealers left and right.
Spokesman Femi Babafemi dropped the details in a Sunday statement, underscoring NDLEA’s zero-tolerance grind against the drug trade. With cartels getting bolder, these hits show the agency’s not messing around—keeping the heat on from ports to farmlands.
