The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intensified its war against drug trafficking with a major bust in Lagos, intercepting illicit drugs cleverly concealed in coffee sachets and arresting 22 Indian crew members of a foreign vessel linked to a large cocaine shipment.
According to the agency, assorted quantities of Ketamine, Ecstasy and Tramadol pills were uncovered, ingeniously concealed inside sachets of coffee mix and parcels of books destined for Zambia and the United Kingdom. The seizures were carried out at a courier company in Lagos on December 24 and 29, 2025.
In a related operation, NDLEA operatives at the GDNL Terminal, Apapa Seaport, Lagos, on Friday, January 2, 2026, uncovered 31.5 kilograms of cocaine hidden in Hatch 3 of a merchant vessel, MV Aruna Hulya, which originated from the Marshall Islands.
Reacting to the development, the Director, Media & Advocacy of NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, disclosed that the Agency immediately took into custody 22 Indian crew members, including the Master of the Vessel, Sharma Shashi Bhushan, for further investigation.
“The arrest of the entire crew became necessary following the discovery of 31.5 kilograms of cocaine concealed inside the ship. Investigations are ongoing to determine the level of complicity of each suspect,” Babafemi stated.
He listed other detained crew members to include Bharati Manoj Kumar, Bhalerao Nilesh Mukund, Nadar Anthony Macson David, Kolusu Srinivasa Rao, Sagar Gaurav, Jagdeep Singh, Jai Parkash, Prabhukhan Singh and others.
In Oyo State, operatives of the NDLEA arrested a wanted female drug kingpin, Fatima Ilori, popularly known as Mama Kerosine, during an intelligence-led operation in Ibadan. The 65-year-old grandmother was apprehended alongside Olusanya Abosede, 35, after the seizure of 238.4 kilograms of skunk traced to her drug network.
Babafemi said the Agency also disrupted the supply chain of illicit drugs to insurgents in Borno State with the arrest of two suspects and the seizure of thousands of Tramadol injections and capsules along major routes.
Other seizures were recorded in Lagos, Kwara and Jigawa States, where large consignments of skunk, tramadol and diazepam were recovered in coordinated operations across the country.
Commending the officers for the successful operations, NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), called for sustained and intensified pressure on drug traffickers across the country, reaffirming the agency’s commitment to dismantling illicit drug networks nationwide.
