Anti-narcotics dismantles international drûg cartel, seizes multi-billion naira consïgnments

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA has uncovered and dismantled an international organized criminal group (IOCG) operating between Nigeria, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Australia, and the United Arab Emirates.

The syndicate was brought down following two weeks of intelligence-led operations in Lagos that led to the arrest of three of its leaders and the interception of a multi-billion naira cocaine shipment.

The breakthrough came on Tuesday, 26th of August 2025, when NDLEA operatives at the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, intercepted 76 cartons of textile materials bound for Sydney, Australia.

Concealed within the lace fabrics and charms were 16 blocks of cocaine weighing 17.9 kilograms, with an estimated street value of N5.3 billion. A freight agent, Olashupo Michael Oladimeji, was immediately arrested.

Further investigations exposed other cartel leaders, including Muaezee Ademola Ogunbiyi, who was arrested in Ikeja GRA on September 3. A search of his Lekki residence uncovered 21 parcels of Canadian Loud cannabis weighing 10.9kg and a pump-action rifle with cartridges. Another leader, Shola Adegoke, previously jailed in the UK for methamphetamine trafficking, was apprehended at the group’s packaging base in Ikeja GRA. Vehicles and additional consignments of cannabis were seized.

According to a statement by the NDLEA’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday, September 7, the Agency identified the cartel’s ringleader as Adebisi Ademola Omoyele, alias “Mr. Bee,” who currently operates from Dubai, UAE. Ogunbiyi, it was revealed, had previously served a 14-year jail term in the UK for murder before returning to Nigeria.

In a separate operation on September 5, NDLEA officers arrested Gabriel Michael, a Milan-based Nigerian, at MMIA with 24,480 tramadol pills concealed in his luggage. He confessed that he intended to sell them in Italy for €19,520.