By Oluwakemi Kindness
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted 750 grams of cocaine concealed in a local mortar and the false bottom of a backpack packaged for shipment to China and Italy through a logistics company in Lagos.
NDLEA in a statement on Sunday says the seizures were made on Thursday, July 30, 2026, by operatives of the Directorate of Operation and General Investigations (DOGI).
Femi Babafemi, NDLEA spokesperson, in the statement says 250 grams of cocaine was factory-fitted into the base of a local mortar packed in a carton for export to China.
Another 500 grams of the Class A drug was hidden in the false bottom of a backpack being shipped to Italy.
The interceptions are part of the agency’s ongoing efforts to disrupt international drug trafficking networks using Nigeria as a transit point.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives in Rivers State arrested a 38-year-old suspected drug dealer, Ugo Gift Okonkwo, at Eagle Island, Port Harcourt, following credible intelligence.
The suspect was arrested on Sunday, July 26, with various quantities of cannabis, cocaine, methamphetamine, swinol, tramadol and codeine syrup.
In Anambra State, officers on a stop-and-search operation at DMGS Roundabout, Onitsha, intercepted a truck loaded with 26,000 bottles of codeine syrup weighing 3,960kg.
The truck, marked XK 131 BDG, was intercepted on Monday, July 27, while its 40-year-old driver, Chinedu Nwanze, was arrested.
Chairman of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), commended the officers involved in the operations and urged personnel to sustain the agency’s efforts to disrupt drug trafficking networks.
