By Elizabeth Godwin
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has apprehended a 60-year-old drug kingpin, Okpara Chigozie, who had evaded arrest for over seven years. He was finally captured on Sunday, July 13, 2025, at his hideout on Michael Ojo Street, Isheri, Lagos State, following the interception of one of his couriers earlier that morning.
According to a statement from NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, Chigozie had been on the agency’s wanted list since 2019 for orchestrating the distribution of large quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine across southeastern Nigeria and beyond. His courier, Achebe Kenneth Nnamdi, 51, was caught around 5:45am in Ilasamaja along the Apapa-Oshodi expressway en route to Onitsha in a Toyota Sienna van. A search revealed 7.6kg of cocaine and 900g of methamphetamine concealed in the vehicle’s compartments.
A subsequent raid on Chigozie’s residence yielded another 1.8kg of cocaine and 1.3kg of meth.
In related operations, NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport arrested a suspect, Omoregie Uyiosa, attempting to smuggle 7,790 pills of tramadol and rohypnol to Italy. Another interception at the airport’s export shed uncovered 1.7kg of skunk cannabis hidden in cereal packs, with suspect Chioba Robert Uchenna detained.
On July 19, a raid on Sarah Sam Hotels in Kosofe, Lagos, led to the arrest of Obayemi Oyetade and the recovery of chocolate cannabis, gummies, and skunk. Vehicles and additional materials linked to the drug trade were also seized.
Further arrests were made across Kaduna, Kano, Gombe, Borno, Bayelsa, Kogi, Abia, Enugu, and Taraba states, involving significant seizures of tramadol, cannabis, methamphetamine, skuchies, and other narcotics. In total, hundreds of kilograms and thousands of pills were recovered.
The NDLEA also continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) social advocacy program, delivering sensitization lectures to schools across Niger, Adamawa, Enugu, Anambra, and Kano states.
The agency reiterated its commitment to intensifying efforts against drug trafficking and abuse, warning that no location or status would shield offenders from the reach of the law.
