A large consignment of cocaine concealed in heads of imported dry stock fish has been intercepted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), arresting a key member of the syndicate involved in shipping the illicit substance across the world, especially to India.

The smashing of the drug syndicate followed intelligence on their trans-border criminal activities. This led to a well-coordinated sting operation by operatives of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Strategic Command of the Agency at the Ojo area of Lagos on Thursday 19th March 2026.

In a statement on Sunday by the spokesperson of the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, he said, in the course of the operation, three jumbo size bags were found in possession of the kingpin 36-year-old Akputa Dickson Ejike.

A search of the bags led to the recovery of Two Hundred and Thirty-Seven (237) wraps of cocaine buried in the heads of imported dry stock fish locally known as “Okporoko.”

The cocaine pellets have a gross weight of 5.80 kilograms. The consignment was intended for export to Delhi, India.

In another operation in Lagos, NDLEA operatives of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) on Wednesday 25th March intercepted two illicit consignments heading to the United Kingdom at a courier company.

In one of the shipments that originated from Cotonou, Benin Republic, 1.9 kilograms of methamphetamine were found concealed in automobile filters while the second parcel contains 40 ampoules of Morphine Sulphate and nine ampoules of Fentanyl.

The War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) social advocacy activities by NDLEA Commands equally continued across the country in the past week. Some of them include: WADA sensitization lecture delivered to students and staff of Community Secondary School, Itigidi, Abi LGA, Cross River; Government Girls Secondary School, Yola, Adamawa; Islamic High School, Igbeti, Oyo state; Gidan Sarki Primary School, Kano, and Royal Legends Academy, Ibeshe, Ikorodu, Lagos state, among others.

While commending the officers and men of MMIA, SOU, DOGI, Ekiti, Ondo, Benue, Edo and Taraba Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures of the past week, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) also praised their counterparts in all the commands across the country for pursuing a fair balance between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.