The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a woman identified as Shodunke Yetunde Simbiat in Lagos after uncovering a large cache of cocaine hidden inside her home.
Themomentng reports that the agency in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said she was a key member of a drug trafficking group whose operations stretch across states and borders.
The arrest took place on Tuesday, December 9, 2025, at her residence on Onasanya Street in Surulere, Lagos, following months of intelligence gathering and surveillance by NDLEA officers.
During a search of the house, operatives found 23.50 kilograms of cocaine concealed inside a black suitcase kept in her children’s room.
The suspect was said to have admitted that the drugs belonged to her, with the agency placing the street value at over five billion naira.
The arrest followed the earlier breakup of the same drug network in May 2024, when NDLEA operatives stopped a couple, Bolanle Lookman Dauda and Olayinka Toheebat Dauda, along the Lagos-Badagry expressway as they attempted to cross into Ghana.
At the time, 47.5 kilograms of cocaine were recovered from them.
Further search of their home in Agbara, Ogun State, led to the recovery of an additional ten kilograms, bringing the total seized from the couple to 57.5 kilograms. Shodunke later went into hiding before she was tracked and arrested.
In another operation, NDLEA officers at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, intercepted a businessman, Nwanwene Robinson Destiny, at the terminal II departure hall on Thursday, December 18, 2025.
He was found with 1,020 pills of tramadol and tapentadol concealed in his luggage while preparing to board a flight to Milan, Italy.
The suspect reportedly claimed he was promised a payment of two hundred euros after delivering the drugs abroad.
At the Seme border area of Badagry, Lagos, NDLEA operatives arrested a 48-year-old Beninese national, Leocardi Josu, on the same day with 3,400 tablets of tramadol while trying to enter Nigeria.
Along the Okene–Lokoja highway, a 30-year-old suspect, Abdullahi Adamu, was also arrested on Friday, December 19, with 28.4 kilograms of skunk and synthetic cannabis.
In Oyo State, officers intercepted a Toyota Hiace bus along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway on Friday, December 19, and recovered 125,000 capsules of tramadol and 1,800 ampoules of pentazocine injection.
Two suspects, Ogunlade Kazeem and Adeleke Ismail, were also arrested earlier in Ibadan with 185.4 kilograms of skunk at Challenge motor park.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives in Osun State raided the Owena/Ijesha forest and seized 405 kilograms of skunk, leading to the arrest of a 45-year-old suspect, Charles James, on Friday, December 19.
On the same day, another suspect, Jamilu Zakari, was arrested along the Abuja–Kaduna highway with 14,960 pills of tramadol hidden inside kolanut sacks being transported from Abuja to Zamfara State.
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Beyond arrests and seizures, the agency said it continued its War Against Drug Abuse activities nationwide in the past week.
These included awareness programmes in schools, community centres, transport unions, and other public spaces across states such as Anambra, Katsina, and Ekiti.
The NDLEA leadership commended officers involved in the various operations across Lagos, Ogun, Kogi, Kaduna, Oyo, and Osun states.
The agency also urged personnel nationwide to remain alert during the festive period and to maintain professionalism in efforts to reduce drug supply and drug use across the country.
