NDLEA arrests couple for illegal drug trafficking

Bolanle and Olayinka Dauda, a couple suspected of heading a cocaine trafficking cartel where millions of naira worth of illegal drugs were seized in two significant operations in the states of Ogun and Lagos, have been confirmed as arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency. 

The agency's spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, stated in a statement on Monday that the raids were intelligence-driven and that Bolanle and Olayinka were apprehended as a result of a coordinated effort between the agency's representatives and the US Drug Enforcement Administration.

The statement read in part, “The duo were arrested on Saturday, May 25, 2024, by operatives of a special operation unit in the NDLEA 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 Class A drug weighing 47.5 kilograms were found on them. A swift follow-up operation at their residence on Plot 24/25 OPIC Extension, Petedo Road, Agbara, Ogun State, led to the recovery of an additional eight blocks of the same drug weighing 10kg, bringing the total weight of the cocaine seized from the couple to 57.5 kilograms.”

Babafemi reported that during a separate operation by the special operations team, 1,100 ampoules of the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl, weighing 6.48 kg, were taken from Ikeh Ifeanyi, 34, a member of a drug trafficking syndicate, at the well-known Idumota Market on Lagos Island.

He said, “No less than 790 ampoules of the dangerous opioid weighing 5.273kg were equally seized from another member of the fentanyl syndicate, 48-year-old Chieze Benjamin, who was also arrested at Idumota Market.

“Fentanyl, a lethal synthetic opioid that is 100 times more potent than heroin, is currently responsible for over 70% of overdose deaths as well as a major contributor to fatal and nonfatal overdoses in the US.

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