Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a pastor and his wife near the Seme border area of Lagos State after discovering 11 kilograms of skunk concealed in hidden compartments of their vehicle.
In a Sunday statement signed by Femi Babafemi, the Director of Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, the suspects, a 45-year-old Pastor identified as Afolabi Hodonu, in charge of the Celestial Church of Christ, Agonvi Sea Beach, Sakpo area of Seme border, Badagry, and his wife, 35-year-old Success Hodonu, were apprehended on Thursday, April 2, at the Gbaji checkpoint.
A search of the couple’s Honda Pilot SUV led to the recovery of blocks of skunk weighing 11kg, carefully concealed in modified parts of their vehicle.
According to the statement, the couple’s arrest followed the apprehension of a fake security agent, Sunday Samuel, 35, at the same checkpoint on Monday, 30th March, while conveying 24.5kg skunk from Seme border to Lagos.
The statement also revealed that the agency successfully dismantled a drug trafficking syndicate in high-stakes intelligence-led operations that lasted three weeks, during which cocaine consignments concealed in tins of palm kernel extract heading to the United Kingdom were intercepted.
The statement further disclosed that the warehouse where the shipments are packaged was raided while all three layers of the group were unravelled, leading to the arrest of the kingpin.
The statement reads, “The breakthrough began on Wednesday, 11th March 2026, when NDLEA officers of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Strategic Command, Ikeja, Lagos intercepted 3.10 kilograms of cocaine at the export shed of the airport. The illicit substance was meticulously hidden inside tins of palm kernel extract intended for shipment to the UK.
”Two suspects handling the shipment, Idris Olayiwola Amoo and Akinlami Akinsoji Adedoyin, were promptly arrested. To unravel the sender and the arrowhead of the drug syndicate, a well-coordinated sting operation was carried out on Thursday, 2nd April, leading to the arrest of the sender of the consignment, Ezemuwo Joel, who operates under a fake identity as Ajayi.”
The statement added, “His arrest provided the link to the syndicate’s head, 52-year-old King Arinze, who was flushed out of a hideout in the Isolo area of Lagos.
“He was thereafter taken to his warehouse at 11, Ola Ifa Street, Bucknor, Isolo, where NDLEA operatives recovered 886 tins of palm kernel extract prepared for drug concealment; industrial tools including a sealing machine, tin openers, paint sprays, 52 grams of cannabis sativa and a pack of hand gloves. Arinze has since confessed to personally draining the oil from the tins to conceal the cocaine.”
Read Also
In a separate operation in Borno state, NDLEA operatives on Wednesday, 1st April, intercepted a female drug supplier identified as a 28-year-old Aisha Adamu, who provided illicit substances to bandit groups operating between the North East and Chad.
The suspect was arrested along the Gamboru Ngala road in possession of 4.3 kilograms of Colorado, a potent synthetic strain of cannabis.
In another operation in Adamawa state, NDLEA officers on patrol along Namtari road, Yola South, on Monday, 30th March, intercepted a trailer marked RUW 947 XA transporting 48,000 pills of tramadol.
The truck driver, Abdulaziz Ismail Korede, was arrested while a follow-up operation led to the arrest of the recipient, Idris Adamu.
In a similar operation, “NDLEA arrested a 60-year-old Idiatu Oladejo with 15kg skunk in Isale Osun, Osogbo, Osun state on Wednesday, 1st April. The operatives, while acting on credible intelligence, raided the Itaogbolu forest, Akure, Ondo state, where they recovered 351 kilograms of skunk and its seeds. No fewer than 28,600 capsules of tramadol were seized from a 66-year-old Aminu Usman Gembu when he was arrested at Aliade, Benue state, on Wednesday, 1st April.”
In Edo state, “a suspect, Roland Owie, 37, was arrested on Monday, 30th March, following the raid of his warehouse at Egbanke community, Orhionmwon LGA, where 1,378 kilograms of skunk were recovered.”
A notorious drug dealer, 40-year-old Ayantola Omodunmomi popularly known as Iya Elle, was on Wednesday, 1st April, arrested at Eleta area of Ibadan, the Oyo state capital.
Her arrest follows intelligence and surveillance on how she uses her 11-year-old daughter, Anjola, to deliver illicit drugs to her customers, and 45.6kg of skunk was recovered from her warehouse.
Chairman of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) while commending the officers and men of MMIA, Seme, Borno, Oyo, Ondo, Osun, Edo, Adamawa and Benue Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures of the past week 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.
”These successful operations are a testament to the Agency’s evolving intelligence capabilities and our unwavering commitment to choking the supply lines of drug cartels. Whether they hide behind legitimate businesses, religious titles, or complex concealment methods, we will find them”, Marwa stated.
