NDLEA seizes drugs in palm kernel can, apprehends pastor and wife with hidden drugs in vehicle.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has successfully dismantled a drug trafficking syndicate through a high-stakes, intelligence-led operation spanning three weeks, seizing cocaine consignments disguised in tins of palm kernel extract bound for the United Kingdom and raiding the warehouse where the shipments were packaged, leading to the arrest of the kingpin and the exposure of the group’s three-layer structure.
The breakthrough began on Wednesday 11th March 2026, when NDLEA officers of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Strategic Command Ikeja Lagos intercepted 3.10 kilograms of cocaine at the export shed of the airport. The illicit substance was meticulously hidden inside tins of palm kernel extract intended for shipment to the UK.
Two suspects handling the shipment, Idris Olayiwola Amoo and Akinlami Akinsoji Adedoyin were promptly arrested. To unravel the sender and the arrowhead of the drug syndicate, a well-coordinated sting operation was carried out on Thursday 2nd April leading to the arrest of the sender of the consignment, Ezemuwo Joel, who operates under a fake identity as Ajayi.
His arrest provided the link to the syndicate’s head, 52-year-old King Arinze who was flushed out of a hideout in the Isolo area of Lagos. He was thereafter taken to his warehouse at 11, Ola Ifa Street, Bucknor, Isolo where NDLEA operatives recovered 886 tins of palm kernel extract prepared for drug concealment; industrial tools including a sealing machine, tin openers; paint sprays; 52 grams of cannabis sativa and a pack of hand gloves. Arinze has since confessed to personally draining the oil from the tins to conceal the cocaine.
Meanwhile, the pastor in charge of the Celestial Church of Christ, Agonvi Sea Beach, Sakpo area of Seme border, Badagry in Lagos state, Pastor Afolabi Hodonu, 45, and his wife, Mrs. Success Hodonu, 35, were on Thursday 2nd April arrested by NDLEA operatives at Gbaji checkpoint. A search of their Honda Pilot SUV led to the recovery of blocks of skunk weighing 11kg concealed in hidden parts of their vehicle.
The arrest of the couple followed the apprehension of a fake security agent Sunday Samuel, 35, at the same checkpoint on Monday 30th March while conveying 24.5kg skunk from Seme border to Lagos.
In his reaction, The NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), expressed commendation to officers and men in various Commands for their remarkable arrests and seizures over the past week. Additionally, he applauded their counterparts in commands nationwide for successfully pursuing a harmonious balance between reducing drug supply and demand.
”These successful operations are a testament to the Agency’s evolving intelligence capabilities and our unwavering commitment to choking the supply lines of drug cartels. Whether they hide behind legitimate businesses, religious titles, or complex concealment methods, we will find them”, Marwa stated
