By Bavoriat Clara
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a female drug kingpin in Lagos and recovered 23.5 kilograms of cocaine concealed in her children’s room, as the Agency continued a series of coordinated operations across the country that also led to the interception of Italy-bound opioids and the arrest of several other suspects.
The suspect, identified as Shodunke Yetunde Simbiat, was apprehended at her residence on Onasanya Street, Surulere, Lagos, following months of intelligence gathering and surveillance. She had been on the run since May 2024 after the dismantling of a major cocaine trafficking cartel operating across Lagos and Ogun States.
According to a statement issued by the Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja, Mr. Femi Babafemi, Simbiat was identified as a key member and stash keeper of the drug trafficking organisation. A search of her residence on Tuesday, 9 December 2025, led to the discovery of blocks of cocaine weighing 23.5 kilograms, hidden inside a black suitcase recovered from her children’s room. She reportedly admitted ownership of the drugs, which have an estimated street value of over ₦5 billion.
The cartel was previously led by Bolanle Lookman Dauda and his wife, Olayinka Toheebat Dauda, who were arrested on Saturday, 25 May 2024, by operatives of NDLEA’s Special Operations Unit along the Lagos–Badagry Expressway while attempting to transport cocaine across the land border to Ghana. At the time of their arrest, 47.5 kilograms of cocaine were recovered from them. A follow-up search of their residence at OPIC Extension, Agbara, Ogun State, resulted in the seizure of an additional 10 kilograms, bringing the total recovered from the couple to 57.5 kilograms.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives at the Terminal II Departure Hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, intercepted a 36-year-old businessman, Nwanwene Robinson Destiny, on Thursday, 18 December, while attempting to board a Royal Air Maroc flight to Milan, Italy. A search of his luggage revealed 1,020 pills of tramadol 225mg and tapentadol 200mg, concealed inside his bags. The suspect claimed he would have been paid €200 upon successful delivery of the drugs in Italy.
At the Seme Border, NDLEA officers arrested a 48-year-old Beninoise national, Leocardi Josu, on the same day with 3,400 tablets of tramadol 225mg while attempting to enter Nigeria. Similarly, along the Okene–Lokoja Highway, a suspect, Abdullahi Adamu, 30, was arrested on Friday, 19 December, with 28.4 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis, as well as Colorado, a synthetic variant.
In Oyo State, NDLEA operatives recovered 125,000 capsules of tramadol and 1,800 ampoules of pentazocine injection from a Toyota Hiace bus along the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway on Friday, 19 December. Two suspects, Ogunlade Kazeem, 54, and Adeleke Ismail, 30, were also arrested with 185.4 kilograms of skunk at Challenge Motor Park, Ibadan, on Wednesday, 17 December.
Further operations in Osun State led to the seizure of 405 kilograms of skunk during a raid on Owena/Ijesha Forest, where a suspect, Charles James, 45, was arrested on Friday, 19 December. On the same day, along the Abuja–Kaduna Highway, NDLEA officers arrested Jamilu Zakari, 42, with 14,960 pills of tramadol 225mg, concealed in two kola nut sacks while en route from Abuja to Gusau, Zamfara State.
Across the country, the Agency also sustained its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaigns, reaching schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities. Recent activities included enlightenment lectures in secondary schools in Anambra State, the Women Development Centre, Awka, Youth Craft Village, Malumfashi, Katsina State, and engagements with members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, among others.
Commending the officers of the Special Operations Unit and the MMIA, Seme, Kogi, Kaduna, Oyo and Osun Commands for their professionalism and operational success, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd.), urged personnel nationwide to remain vigilant, particularly during the festive season, and to uphold the highest standards in both drug supply and demand reduction efforts.
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