Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a real estate agent and several other suspects in connection with attempts to receive and distribute consignments of synthetic cannabis, popularly known as Colorado, shipped from the United Kingdom.
The agency said its operatives intercepted two UK-bound consignments containing 27 parcels of Colorado weighing 32.20kg and another consignment weighing 12.25kg at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
According to the NDLEA, a real estate agent, Abideen Jide Salami, was arrested on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, after he arrived at the airport to collect a large luggage containing the illicit substance using a secret collection code allegedly relayed by his brother based in the UK.
In a follow-up operation, the agency also arrested Nurudeen Abiodun Kadiri, 44, who was identified as the recipient of the second consignment of Colorado weighing 12.25kg. The suspect reportedly told operatives that his brother in the UK sent the package to him.
The NDLEA further disclosed that its Directorate of Operations and General Investigation intercepted another consignment of Colorado concealed inside a music speaker at a motor park in Maza Maza, Lagos.
The consignment was reportedly destined for Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, and ultimately Liberia. A tour agent, Ifeanyi Obed Augustine, 41, and the owner of the consignment, Obasi Ugochuckwu, 46, were arrested during a sting operation at a nearby eatery.
At Iddo Park, another suspect, Ifeanyi Nwokolo Henry, was arrested on Friday, September 11, while allegedly attempting to dispatch 2.1kg of Colorado to Kano.
The NDLEA said its operations also extended to other parts of the country, with officers in Delta State recovering ampoules of pentazocine injection, codeine syrup, tramadol, diazepam, flunitrazepam and MDMA, some of which were concealed inside music speakers.
In Kano State, operatives arrested 20-year-old Saidu Adamu during a raid at Sabon Gari with 785,000 capsules of pregabalin weighing 669.425kg.
The agency also intercepted 1,700 tablets of diazepam concealed inside loaves of bread during a stop-and-search operation along the Zaria-Kano-Hadejia Road. A suspect, Habibu Sabitu, 28, was arrested in connection with the consignment.
In Plateau State, NDLEA operatives arrested 51-year-old Chinedu Uzor at Katako Market, Jos, with 157,100 capsules of tramadol.
The agency also reported the destruction of 4,832.56kg of skunk on cannabis farms in Edo State, while several arrests were made in connection with cannabis trafficking in Ondo, Kaduna and Bayelsa states.
In Bayelsa, four suspects, including 70-year-old Godwoman Gboriye, were arrested at Ovom, Yenagoa, with 110 bags of cannabis weighing 876kg.
Reacting to the seizures and arrests, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers involved in the operations and urged them to sustain efforts to disrupt drug trafficking networks across the country.
Marwa charged the agency’s personnel to continue shutting down channels being exploited by drug cartels at airports, seaports, land borders and within communities where cannabis is cultivated.
