The NDLEA said the interceptions were carried out at the Apapa and Tin Can Island ports in Lagos, as well as the Onne Port in Rivers State, following months of intelligence gathering and tracking of the shipments from their countries of origin.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by the agency's Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, NDLEA operatives at Apapa Port recovered 161 parcels of Thai Loud weighing 124 kilogrammes and valued at ₦372 million. The drugs were allegedly concealed inside two refrigerators and two cartons in one of the containers.
At the Tin Can Island Port, operatives recovered 2,595 parcels of Canadian Loud weighing 1,297.5kg. The consignment, concealed in vehicles and other items inside a watch-listed container from Montreal, Canada, was said to have an estimated street value of more than ₦3.8 billion.
At the Onne Port in Rivers State, NDLEA operatives intercepted another shipment containing 40 packs of Loud weighing 22kg, alongside 109,600 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup weighing 16,440kg. The agency said the combined street value of the seized Loud and codeine consignments was ₦833.2 million.
The NDLEA said the codeine shipment was concealed in a container that had travelled from India to Saudi Arabia, where its origin history was allegedly deleted in an attempt to avoid detection.
In a related operation at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, NDLEA operatives arrested a Milan-bound businessman identified as Philip Tunde with 4.80kg of cocaine allegedly concealed in the soles of shoes and the railings of travelling bags.
Tunde was arrested on September 27, 2026, at a joint screening point at Terminal 2 of the Lagos airport while preparing to board a Royal Air Maroc flight to Milan, Italy. A search allegedly led to the recovery of 16 parcels of white powder concealed inside eight pairs of trainers and canvas shoes, as well as 195 wraps hidden in the railings of four travelling bags. The substances subsequently tested positive for cocaine.
The NDLEA said the suspect claimed during interrogation that he paid ₦16 million in cash for the cocaine concealed in the shoes, while the consignment hidden in the bags was allegedly intended for delivery to a business partner in Italy.
The agency also reported other drug-related operations across the country, including the destruction of 20,234kg of skunk on 8.0936 hectares of cannabis farm in Ife South Local Government Area of Osun State.
In Lagos, NDLEA operatives reportedly recovered 209,000 tablets of tramadol from an unoccupied compound at Divine Estate, Ago Palace, while a 23-year-old man, Ekundayo Taiwo, was arrested in a follow-up operation at Ladipo Spare Parts Market after the seizure of Colorado, a synthetic strain of cannabis, and methamphetamine.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brigadier-General Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended the agency's operatives for the successful operations and called for sustained efforts against drug trafficking networks.
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