Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested an Indian businessman, Gupta Ravi Kumar, alongside three Nigerian accomplices, following the interception of a massive consignment of 2,248,000 pills of tramadol smuggled into Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
The Nigerian suspects were identified as Ogunlana Noah Olanrewaju, Olushola Idrees Kayode, and Bakare Korede Muheeb.
According to the NDLEA, the illicit shipment, worth an estimated ₦3.99 billion in street value, was imported from Delhi, India, aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight. The traffickers disguised the opioids as multi-vitamins and packed them in 114 cartons before the consignment arrived at the Lagos airport import shed on Monday, September 8, 2025.
In a statement issued on Sunday, NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi said operatives, acting on intelligence, had placed the consignment under surveillance until Thursday, September 11, when officers swooped on a clearing agent and two drivers attempting to move the drugs out of the airport in two trucks.
“A follow-up operation the following day, Friday, led to the arrest of the Indian businessman Gupta Ravi Kumar, when he was trying to take delivery of the consignment,” Babafemi stated.