A cocaine trafficking cartel headed by a couple identified as Bolanle Lookman Dauda and Olayinka Toheebat Dauda, has been smashed in Lagos and Ogun states by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
Multi-billion-naira worth of the illicit drug was recovered in two major operations following the arrest of the kingpin and his queen in one of the intelligence-led raids.
A statement by the director of media and advocacy, Femi Babafemi, stated that the duo were arrested Saturday, May 25, 2024, by operatives of a special operation unit with the support of Drug Enforcement Administration of the United States, at Ibiye, along Lagos-Badagry expressway while attempting to cross the land border to deliver the consignment in Ghana.
“At the point of their arrest, 42 blocks of the drug weighing 47.5 kilograms were found on them.
“A swift follow up operation in their residence at Plot 24/25 OPIC extension, Petedo Road, Agbara, Ogun state, led to the recovery of additional eight blocks of the same drug weighing 10kg, bringing the total weight of the cocaine seized from the couple to 57.5 kilograms,” Bafemi said
In another raid by the special operation unit, no fewer than 1,100 ampoules of lethal synthetic opioid, fentanyl, weighing 6.48kg were recovered from a member of a drug trafficking syndicate, 34-year-old Ikeh Stanley Ifeanyi at the popular Idumota market in Lagos Island.
Babafemi added that no less than 790 ampoules of the dangerous opioid weighing 5.273kg were seized from another member of the fentanyl syndicate, 48-year-old Chieze Ogechukwu Benjamin who was also arrested at Idumota market. Fentanyl, a lethal synthetic opioid, which is 100 times more potent than heroin is currently responsible for over 70% overdose deaths as well as a major contributor to fatal and nonfatal overdoses in the US.
He said, “Two other persons including layiwola Aremu Kazeem, 37, and Ogunfowora Taofik Ajibola, 35, were also arrested on Lagos Island in a different raid with 432 grams of methamphetamine recovered from them.
Also at the Tincan Port in Lagos, the operatives on May 25, intercepted 15 parcels of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis weighing 7.5kg concealed in the doors and body crevices of a Toyota Highlander SUV in a container marked MSMU 7294325.
He said the container declared as containing three units of used vehicles including the Toyota Highlander originated from Toronto and shipped to Nigeria via Montreal, Canada.
“A swift follow up operation led to the arrest of two suspects identified as Sunday Sodade and Oriyomi Adesina, who were to receive the vehicle and the drug consignment,” he said.
