NDLEA busts hidden drug compartment in fuel tanker, arrests cocaine convict

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have uncovered a concealed compartment designed for illicit drugs in a 20,000-litre fuel tanker and arrested a previously convicted cocaine trafficker during coordinated operations across several states.

NDLEA disclosed the development in a statement issued on Sunday, September 6, detailing a series of coordinated anti-narcotics operations carried out across Lagos, Adamawa, Ondo, Kaduna, Bauchi, Ekiti, Kogi, Taraba and Enugu states.

The agency said the operations also led to the recovery of consignments of cannabis, tramadol, methamphetamine and other psychotropic substances.

What they are saying

The agency said its Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) tracked down the alleged mastermind of a cocaine shipment intercepted at a Lagos courier company after an intelligence-led investigation.

The investigation followed the interception on July 31 of a 1.2kg cocaine consignment concealed inside phone chargers and bound for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

According to the NDLEA, the suspect was arrested during a sting operation in the Ojo area of Lagos while allegedly posing as a herbal tea businessman.

• “The suspect, arrested in a sting operation at Article Market, opposite Trade Fair Market, Ojo area of Lagos, on Friday 4th September 2026 while posing as a herbal tea businessman, was identified as 34-year-old Dunu Bethel Ebubechukwu.”
• The agency said further investigations showed that Ebubechukwu had previously been arrested for drug trafficking.

According to the NDLEA, he was arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos in 2011 after allegedly ingesting 900 grams of cocaine and 130 grams of heroin in an attempt to travel to Austria under the name Dunu Chukwuyenre Enoch.

He was subsequently prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to five years in prison, the agency said.

NDLEA added that after serving his sentence, the suspect changed his name to Dunu Bethel Ebubechukwu and allegedly returned to drug trafficking.

• “A search of his residence located at 6 Yemishola Street, Ejigbo, Lagos on Friday 4ᵗʰ September led to the recovery of phone chargers similar to those used to conceal the intercepted cocaine, with their internal components removed to create space for drugs.”

Get up to speed

The latest operation comes shortly after another major drug interception by the NDLEA at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos, where operatives seized consignments of captagon, popularly referred to as the “Jihadi drug”, alongside millions of opioid pills valued at more than N6.2 billion.

As previously reported by Nairametrics, the captagon seizure followed the arrest of a 49-year-old alleged cross-border drug trafficking kingpin who arrived in Lagos from Accra, Ghana.

The agency also recovered large quantities of opioid tablets from abandoned consignments at the airport’s import shed.

• The seizures included 47,200 captagon pills valued at more than N1.5 billion, as well as about 3.9 million tablets of Tramaking 225mg and Tapentadol 250mg estimated to be worth over N4.6 billion.

What you should know

The latest interception adds to a string of major drug seizures recorded by the NDLEA in recent months, particularly in Lagos, where the agency has intensified operations targeting international trafficking channels, ports, courier services and large shipments of opioids and other illicit substances.

• In July, NDLEA operatives intercepted a combined consignment of cocaine, cannabis and opioid drugs estimated at about N10 billion in operations conducted across Lagos ports, courier facilities and other locations within one week.

The agency had also carried out raids on three suspected illicit drug warehouses in Lagos in April, recovering opioid consignments valued at about N16.9 billion.

NDLEA’s enforcement operations have also extended to other parts of the country.

• In April, the agency secured an interim forfeiture order covering opioid drugs valued at about N33.6 billion that were intercepted in 17 containers at the Onne Port in Rivers State.

The consignments included millions of pills of Tramadol, Tafrodol, Tapentadol and Carisoprodol, as well as bottles of codeine syrup.