By Newspointer, Kwara
Drugs Baron Oct. 06, 2025
A suspected Lagos-based drug baron, Alhaji Hammed Taofeek Ode, and five members of his cartel have been arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency for masterminding multiple cocaine shipments disguised as household items and sent to the United Kingdom.
NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday, said the arrests followed weeks of intelligence-led operations that uncovered six consignments concealed in stainless cups, hair cream and body cream containers.
He said the breakthrough came on September 16 when operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport intercepted 174 parcels of cocaine weighing 13.40kg. Investigations later linked the seizure to Ode, who confessed to owning the consignment worth over N150m.
In a separate raid, a furniture maker, Smith David Korede, was arrested in Oshodi, Lagos, after NDLEA operatives found more than 2kg of cocaine hidden in hair cream containers at his residence. Two others, Ogunbiyi Oluseye Taiwo and Popoola Francis Olumuyiwa, were also nabbed for concealing cocaine in crayfish and stainless cups.
The agency further intercepted 6.3kg of “Loud,” a potent strain of cannabis, smuggled from Thailand, while a joint NDLEA-Customs operation in Kano led to the arrest of one Sa’adu Ali with more than 290,000 pills of tramadol and pregabalin. Similar crackdowns in Kwara, Kaduna, Ogun, Osun, Edo and Kogi States yielded seizures of skunk, codeine syrup, Colorado and cannabis farms.
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NDLEA Chairman, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended the operatives and vowed that the agency would sustain its momentum until all drug cartels are dismantled.
