The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), with assistance from the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), has dismantled a cocaine cartel led by Bolanle Lookman Dauda and Olayinka Dauda.
The couple was apprehended on May 25, 2024, at Ibiye, along the Lagos-Badagry expressway, as they attempted to cross the land border to deliver a consignment to Ghana.
NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed that the Daudas were found with 42 blocks of cocaine weighing 47.5 kilograms at the time of arrest.
A follow-up raid at their residence in Agbara, Ogun State, uncovered an additional eight blocks of cocaine weighing 10 kilograms, bringing the total seizure to 57.5 kilograms.
In Babafemi’s statement, he said: “A cocaine trafficking cartel headed by a couple, Bolanle Lookman Dauda and Olayinka Toheebat Dauda, has been smashed in Lagos and Ogun States by operatives of the NDLEA, with multi-billion-naira worth of the illicit drug recovered in two major operations following the arrest of the kingpin and his queen.”
In a related operation, NDLEA operatives recovered 1,100 ampoules of fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid, from two members of a drug trafficking syndicate at Idumota market in Lagos Island. Additionally, 432 grams of methamphetamine were seized from two individuals in a separate raid on Lagos Island.
The statement detailed, “In another raid by the special operation unit, no fewer than 1,100 ampoules of lethal synthetic opioid, fentanyl, weighing 6.48kg were recovered from a member of a drug trafficking syndicate, 34-year-old Ikeh Stanley Ifeanyi at the popular Idumota market in Lagos Island.”
The statement continued, “No less than 790 ampoules of the dangerous opioid weighing 5.273kg were equally seized from another member of the fentanyl syndicate, 48-year-old Chieze Ogechukwu Benjamin who was also arrested at Idumota market.
Fentanyl, a lethal synthetic opioid, which is 100 times more potent than heroin, is currently responsible for over 70% of overdose deaths as well as a major contributor to fatal and nonfatal overdoses in the US.”
Furthermore, two other individuals, Olayiwola Aremu Kazeem, 37, and Ogunfowora Taofik Ajibola, 35, were arrested on Lagos Island with 432 grams of methamphetamine.
In another significant bust, NDLEA operatives at Tincan port in Lagos intercepted a container marked MSMU 7294325 on May 25. The container, declared to contain three used vehicles, including a Toyota Highlander SUV, was found to contain 15 parcels of Loud, a synthetic cannabis strain, weighing 7.5 kilograms. The container originated from Toronto and passed through Montreal, Canada.
These operations highlight NDLEA’s continued efforts to combat drug trafficking and its impact on Nigerian society.