By Stephen — Dalena Reporters
November 26, 2025
Operatives of the NDLEA this week dismantled a major opioids cartel in Lagos, arresting a suspected drug baron and five others, while seizing illicit substances with a street value of about ₦6.7 billion from a secret warehouse in a residential area.
According to a statement by the agency’s Director of Media & Advocacy, credible intelligence led to a coordinated raid between November 19 and 20, targeting a residential compound at 23 Sunny Billa East Street, Bucknor — in the Isheri-Isolo area of Lagos. The warehouse was reportedly set to serve as the distribution hub for a large cache of opioids just in time for the Christmas festive season.
During the first phase of the operation on November 19, two syndicate members — Egbo Innocent Udalor and Chukwe Emmanuel — were intercepted at Apple Junction, Festac, while allegedly transporting 300 cartons of opioids in a truck. A follow-up raid on the warehouse the next day led to the arrest of the cartel leader, Onyekachi Pius Nwanagu, along with other members: Nwoye Sunday Ali, Nnacho Ogochukwu, and Oraghalia Chukwuebuka Philip.
In total, NDLEA recovered approximately 7,272,000 pills of Tramadol 225 mg — valued at about ₦3.96 billion — and roughly 53 million millilitres of codeine syrup — valued at about ₦2.76 billion, bringing the combined street-value haul to ₦6,722,550,000. The drugs were evacuated from the estate in 11 trucks to the agency’s central exhibit complex in Lagos.
The head of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd.), hailed the operation as a decisive victory against drug traffickers “preying on Nigeria’s youth.” He pledged that the agency would continue to go after the “kingpins and financiers” behind the illicit drug trade — sending a strong warning to others hiding behind residential buildings and distribution networks.
The scale and timing of the bust — just ahead of the Christmas season, when demand for psychoactive substances often surges — underscore the threat such cartels pose to societal stability, public health, and security across Nigeria. With this major blow to the trafficking network, authorities hope to stem the flow of opioids and prevent further drug-related crimes.
Dalena Reporters will continue to follow the legal proceedings and broader fallout as the NDLEA moves to prosecute those arrested and dismantle the larger network behind this operation.