The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has recovered N6.7 billion worth of tramadol pills and codeine syrups during a sting operation that dismantled a major opioids cartel operating from a residential estate in the Isolo area of Lagos.
The raid, conducted between November 19 and 20, 2025, also led to the arrest of a drug baron, Onyekachi Pius Nwanagu, and five members of his network.
According to a statement issued on Wednesday by NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, the operation was triggered by credible intelligence that the syndicate was preparing to distribute 7,272,000 pills of tramadol 225mg and 526,200 bottles (52.6 million millilitres) of codeine syrup ahead of the Christmas season.
The drugs were stored inside a compound located at 23 Sunny Billa East Street, Bucknor, Isheri, Isolo.
“Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) continued their offensive action against drug syndicates in a nationwide crackdown with the dismantling of an opioids cartel in an intelligence-led operation during which a baron Onyekachi Pius Nwanagu and five members of his gang were arrested with illicit substances worth over N6.7 billion recovered from their secret warehouse in a residential estate in Lagos.
“Following credible intelligence that the drug trafficking organisation (DTO) was about distributing over 7.2 million pills of tramadol 225mg and 526,200 bottles (52.6 million mls) of codeine syrup warehoused in a residential compound located at 23 Sunny Billa East Street, Bucknor, Isheri area of Isolo, Lagos state,” the statement read in part.
More insights
The statement added that two members of the trafficking organisation, Egbo Innocent Udalor and Chukwe Emmanuel, were initially arrested on November 19 at Apple Junction, Festac, while conveying 300 cartons of opioids in a truck.
- A follow-up raid on the warehouse the next day led to the arrest of Nwanagu and three other suspects: Nwoye Sunday Ali, Nnacho Ogochukwu, and Oraghalia Chukwuebuka Philip. The recovered drugs were subsequently evacuated in 11 trucks to the agency’s central exhibit complex.
- NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive, Brig Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), commended the operatives for what he described as a “major victory against cartels preying on Nigeria’s youth.”
He said the scale of the seizure highlighted the magnitude of the threat posed by drug syndicates and reaffirmed the agency’s focus on dismantling kingpins rather than pursuing only low-level couriers.
Marwa noted that the arrest of the cartel leader served as a “clear statement” that drug barons were no longer beyond the law, adding that the agency would sustain its intensified intelligence-led operations nationwide.
