NDLEA incinerates ₦301bn worth of narcotics, warns drug barons
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has destroyed more than 329,865kg of illicit drugs valued at about ₦301bn in Lagos, in one of the agency’s largest public narcotics destruction exercises.
The drugs were incinerated on Monday at Navy Town in the Ojo area of the state following court orders covering concluded cases and abandoned seizures.
The haul included cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, ephedrine, khat leaves and various opioids, including tramadol and codeine-based syrups.
The destruction also covered different strains of cannabis, including Canadian Loud and skunk.
The NDLEA said the seized drugs were recovered during operations conducted across Lagos between April 2025 and May 2026.
Its Lagos Strategic Command accounted for 246,864.535kg of the drugs, while 83,001.05kg were seized by other specialised commands and units operating in the state.
The additional seizures came from operations involving the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Tincan and Apapa Strategic Commands, the Marine Command and a Special Operations Unit.
Speaking at the destruction site, NDLEA chairman and chief executive, Brig Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd), said the exercise demonstrated the government’s determination to disrupt the operations of drug traffickers and their networks.
Marwa warned drug barons and financiers that the agency would continue to pursue them regardless of where they operated.
He said the destruction of the narcotics would help protect communities from the consequences of drug abuse while reducing the economic and security costs associated with the illicit drug trade.
According to him, disrupting drug trafficking also deprives organised criminal groups and violent extremist networks of a potential source of funding.
Lagos state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by the secretary to the state government, Bimbola Salu-Hundeyin, described the destruction as a stark reminder of the scale of the threat posed by illicit drugs.
The state government, she said, would continue to work with federal security agencies to combat drug trafficking and abuse.
The comptroller-general of the Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, linked the illicit drug trade to the activities of violent non-state actors, including bandits, kidnappers, armed robbers and terrorists.
He said disrupting the drug trade would deprive criminal groups of funds needed to sustain their operations.
The chief of naval staff, Vice Admiral Idi Abbas, represented by the Flag Officer Commanding Western Naval Command, Rear Admiral Abdullahi Mustapha, pledged continued military support for the NDLEA’s anti-narcotics operations.
The agency said the destruction formed part of broader efforts to dismantle drug trafficking networks and reduce the availability of illicit substances in Nigeria.