NDLEA intercepts Colos shipments from UK, uncovers opioids in loaves of bread, speakers

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted two shipments of synthetic cannabis, popularly called Colorado or Colos in street terms, concealed in consolidated cargoes coming from the United Kingdom, while two other consignments of the dangerous substance hidden in music speakers were recovered from two motor parks in Lagos, where at least seven suspects connected to the seized cargoes have been arrested by operatives of the Agency.

At the import shed of the Lagos International Airport, the Director, Media and Advocacy of the NDLEA, Mr Femi Babafemi, said in a statement on Sunday that operatives of the Agency intercepted a UK-inbound consignment concealing 27 parcels of Colos weighing 32.20kg, while a real estate agent, Abideen Jide Salami, who showed up with a secret collection code relayed from his UK-based brother to collect a large luggage containing the illicit substance, was arrested on 9 September 2026.

A follow-up operation stemming from a second UK consignment led operatives to the designated recipient of another consignment of Colorado weighing 12.25kg. The suspect, Nurudeen Abiodun Kadiri, said the consignment was sent to him by his brother in the UK.

Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) have intercepted a music speaker rigged with three packs of Colorado at a motor park in Maza Maza, Lagos, heading to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, and ultimately Liberia.

A tour agent, Ifeanyi Obed Augustine, and the consignment’s owner, Obasi Ugochuckwu, were both arrested after a swift sting operation at a nearby eatery. In a separate operation at Iddo Park, a suspect, Ifeanyi Nwokolo Henry, was also nabbed on Friday while attempting to dispatch 2.1kg of Colorado to Kano.

In Delta State, two separate arrests at Ughelli and Asaba yielded a haul of ampoules of pentazocine injection, codeine syrup, tramadol, diazepam, flunitrazepam (hypnox) and MDMA (Molly), with several of them concealed in music speakers, while two suspects, Emeka Oji and Chukwuebuka Anedi, were arrested.

In Kano, a raid at Sabon Gari led to the arrest of a 20-year-old suspect, Saidu Adamu, with a staggering 785,000 capsules of Pregabalin weighing 669.425kg, while a stop-and-search operation along the Zaria–Kano–Hadejia road netted 1,700 tablets of diazepam concealed inside loaves of bread seized from Habibu Sabitu, even as 51-year-old Chinedu Uzor was nabbed at Katako Market, Jos, Plateau State, with 157,100 capsules of tramadol.

The Agency, according to the statement, also sustained pressure on illicit cannabis cultivation with the destruction of 4,832.56 kilograms of skunk on cannabis farms at Usen Forest, Igwe-Oke Forest and Ogboha Forest, in Ovia South West, Owan East and Owan West LGA, Edo State, where a suspect, Sunday Segun, was arrested on Friday.

In Ondo State, NDLEA officers acting on credible intelligence on 9 September raided a residence along Oke-Iya, Ijoka Road, Akure, where they recovered 186kg of skunk concealed in the boot of a Toyota Avalon car marked ABJ 917 FV, from a 58-year-old suspect, Paul Ogbuwala, who was planning to move the consignment to Jos for onward distribution.

In Kaduna, a female suspect, Hannah Michael, was arrested at Gonin Gora with 369.6kg of cannabis, while in Bayelsa State, four suspects, including a 70-year-old woman, Godwoman Gboriye, were arrested at Ovom, Yenagoa, with 110 bags of cannabis weighing 876kg. Others are Motombo Silver, Pere Andrew and Keme Andrew.

With the same vigour, Commands and formations of the Agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities, among others, in the past week.

While commending the officers and men of DOGI, MMIA, Ondo, Edo, Delta, Kaduna, Plateau, Bayelsa, and Kano Commands for the various successful operations, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig-Gen. Mohamed Marwa (rtd), enjoined them and their colleagues across the country to continue with the ongoing balanced approach to the drug control efforts of the Agency.

He charged them to continue to shut every pipeline being used by drug cartels, whether at the airports, seaports, land borders, or in the hinterland where cannabis is cultivated.