A Chinese businessman Liang Tak You and an 80-year-old grandma Mrs. Grace Ekpeme top the list of arrests made by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in nationwide interdiction operations leading to the seizure of consignments of Colorado, a synthetic strain of cannabis hidden in moimoi sachets and Canadian Loud, another strong strain of cannabis concealed in canned food items imported from Canada.
Liang was arrested by NDLEA operatives at the arrival hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja Lagos on Friday 25th July 2025 based on actionable intelligence. The suspect, who arrived Nigeria from Bangkok via Dubai, UAE, on Emirates Airline flight, is a Chinese national, naturalised and based in Malaysia, but flew to Thailand where he picked two suitcases filled with 50 parcels of Loud weighing 26.10kg before heading to Nigeria via UAE.
Upon his arrival at the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives who were tracking his movement from his port of departure allowed him to pass through necessary protocols before picking him up on his way out of the airport. The octogenarian grandma Mrs. Grace Ekpeme was arrested at Edet-Nsa street, Base Site, Calabar South, Cross River state with over 3kg skunk in the early hours of Saturday 26th July following intelligence on her drug dealing activities.
In Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Wednesday 23rd July intercepted a suspect Chidi Agbafo along Epe – Ajah expressway while taking consignments of 21.7kg Colorado, some of which were packaged in moimoi cooking sachets and 3.8litres of codeine based syrub in a commercial bus to deliver in Warri and Oghara, Delta state.
At the Apapa seaport in Lagos, a total of 101kg Canadian Loud factory packed in 202 tins of imported food item labelled Bean Salad Mix and concealed in two Toyota Sienna buses in a container that came from Canada, were recovered. The discovery was made during a joint examination of the container by NDLEA officers, men of Customs Service and other security agencies on Friday 25th July.
No fewer than 71,000 pills of tramadol, diazepam and exol-5 were recovered from Usman Musa by NDLEA operatives on patrol along Abuja- Kaduna highway on Wednesday 23rd July when the suspect was travelling with the consignment of opioids in a commercial bus going to Kano.
In Borno, a 30-year-old lady Binta Usman was on Wednesday 23rd July arrested by NDLEA officers who recovered 30.1kg skunk from her house at Muna Moforo area of Maiduguri.
A follow up operation later led to the arrest of her accomplice Bala Abdullahi in the same area of the Borno state capital on Friday 25th July.
Three brothers: Nanna Ozirinye, Chizom Ozirinye and Maxwell Ozirinye were on Saturday 26th July arrested when NDLEA operatives raided a cannabis plantation at bending corner forest, Idoani, Ose local council area of Ondo State where they destroyed 2,500 kilograms of skunk on an hectare of land and recovered already processed 121.4kg of same psychoactive substance.
