NDLEA intercepts 25kg of meth in cereal packs and arrests US citizen over cannabis
A 56-year-old suspect, identified by the agency as Chinedu Onwude, was arrested at Terminal II on Wednesday, 11 November 2026, following his arrival from South Africa. According to the NDLEA, the suspect has lived in South Africa for over 24 years, holds both Nigerian and South African passports, and used a stolen identity—Omokan Isaac Babatope—gained via forged documents.
Agency spokesperson Femi Babafemi said in a statement that Onwude confessed to being contracted by a South Africa-based man, Obiora Okoye, to deliver the illicit drugs in Nigeria for a fee of 20,000 South African rand.
In a separate operation on the same day, NDLEA operatives arrested a 28-year-old American citizen, Greene Da’monte Khiree, arriving from Thailand via Dubai, with 33.95kg of “Loud,” a potent strain of cannabis.
The suspect, a native of Savannah, Georgia, who claimed to play professional basketball in Thailand, was intercepted at the airport car park after abandoning two checked-in bags containing 32 parcels of the drug.
Further nationwide operations by the agency led to several other arrests and seizures. In Lagos, 119.71kg of cannabis sativa was recovered from a 33-year-old man, Taiwo Aderoju, in Ebute Metta on Tuesday, 10 November.
In Kaduna State, operatives raided a facility in Sabon Garin Kangin on 9 November, uncovering a local firearms manufacturing factory and arresting a 45-year-old man, Sagiru Musa. Items seized included 17 locally made Dane guns, two pistols, and 25 Dane gun pipes.
Additionally, a joint operation in the Ajah area on 14 November yielded 78.8kg of cannabis, alongside quantities of codeine syrup, tramadol, Rohypnol, and other illicit substances from an abandoned vehicle. Meanwhile, officers along the Abuja-Kaduna expressway intercepted a 31-year-old woman, Tabara Dauda, on 13 November with 196 live AK-47 rounds and N675,000 in cash.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig-Gen. Mohamed Marwa (retd.), commended the operatives, stating that the concealment of methamphetamine in breakfast cereals demonstrated that no method could evade the agency’s vigilance.