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| NDLEA displays seized codeine and tramadol evidence. |
Operatives of Nigeria’s anti-drug agency said they caught a wanted drug boss after three years on the run, and seized a massive haul of opioids and codeine syrup at a major port.
The man arrested is named Sunday Ibigide, aged 36. He was taken in Asaba, Delta State, while trying to move dozens of blocks of skunk from a distribution bus. The agency said the seizure weighed about 138 kilograms and came with one aide in custody.
Officials said Ibigide first surfaced in agency records in March 2022 after an earlier seizure linked to him. After that, he is said to have gone underground. The arrest came on August 10, after intelligence led agents to a vehicle moving the drugs.
What made this week unusual was the scale and spread of the raids. Teams worked in at least eight states, destroying large cannabis farms, seizing tonnes of skunk, and rounding up dozens of suspects. Those actions formed part of what officials called a coordinated, nationwide sweep.
At the Port Harcourt ports complex, NDLEA officers, with customs and other agencies, opened five containers. Inside they found bottles of codeine syrup and millions of pills of tramadol and benzhexol, the agency said. The combined street value was reported at about ₦7.8 billion.
The port haul was described as the largest single interception in recent weeks. Agency reports listed 875,000 bottles of codeine syrup and 3.5 million pills of tramadol and benzhexol from the containers examined at Onne Port.
Beyond the port, squads in Enugu destroyed plantings across 15 hectares and removed tens of tonnes of cannabis from the field. Arrests and recoveries were also listed in Lagos, Kogi, Gombe, Taraba, Kaduna and Kano states. The agency logged hundreds of thousands of pills of tramadol across checkpoints and patrols.
The NDLEA named a spokesperson as its public voice on the arrests and seizures. The agency credited careful tip-taking and cross-agency checks for the port stop. They described the operations as intelligence-driven and the result of coordinated examination of container shipments.
Officers said the arrested suspect was moving the skunk for local distribution. The agency listed an aide, 27 years old, as part of the arrests connected to that bus. Prosecutors will now take over evidence for court action.
Across the board, the seizures showed a mix of street drugs and diverted pharmaceuticals. The port containers held codeine syrup and benzhexol, while highway checks and markets turned up tramadol, rohypnol, ketamine ampoules and large blocks of skunk. The wide mix shows both industrial-scale smuggling and local distribution networks remain active.
Agency leaders praised the officers and called for steady vigilance. They urged officers to combine enforcement with outreach in schools and communities to reduce demand. Those internal notes stressed a balance between arrests and prevention work.
Legal experts watching the case said the evidence from the bus and the containers should form the basis for prosecution. Chain of custody will be key. Courts will want clear logs of seizure, custody and transport before any trial can move forward. (That’s paperwork lawyering, and it matters.)
Residents in port cities and near the raid sites described a sudden surge in security checks and hullabaloo around container yards. Locals told reporters that heavy patrols and vehicle searches changed traffic for a while. The agency said public warnings and tips from citizens helped shape the leads.
Context matters. For years, law enforcement has pointed to pills like tramadol and codeine syrup as common items trafficked for misuse and sale locally. Large shipments through ports remain one route, while land checkpoints feed the highways with smaller loads. The mix of seizures this week underlines that two-front pattern.
What now? The arrested suspects now face evidence gathering and prosecution. The containers and farm sites will be logged and preserved as exhibits. The agency said it will continue with targeted raids and port checks. The goal is to stop the supply; enforcement officials also want visible deterrence.
This operation will not erase drug trade overnight. Still, the scale of the interceptions, the arrests of a man on the agency’s wanted list, and the port haul together signal an active, coordinated push. Time will tell whether courts and continued checks cut the trade deeper.
As this story develops, readers should expect details from the prosecution filings and court calendars. For now, the NDLEA and partner agencies say they have a high-value arrest, a large port seizure, and many items ready for evidence. The agency asked citizens to keep sharing tips.