NDLEA arrests wanted suspected drug kingpin with 11.6kg cocaine

Operatives of a special operations unit of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested Okpara Paul Chigozie, a 60-year-old wanted drug kingpin. His arrest ends seven years of evading the law, and he was caught attempting to ship large quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine to the Southeast and other parts of the country. […]

Operatives of a special operations unit of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested Okpara Paul Chigozie, a 60-year-old wanted drug kingpin.

His arrest ends seven years of evading the law, and he was caught attempting to ship large quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine to the Southeast and other parts of the country.

A statement by Femi Babafemi, NDLEA’s spokesman, said Okpara, who has been on the wanted list since 2019, was finally apprehended at his hideout at 72 Michael Ojo Street, Isheri, in the Ojo area of Lagos State on Sunday, July 13, 2025. This arrest followed the interception of some of his consignments at 5:45 am on the same day at Ilasamaja, along the Apapa-Oshodi expressway.

According to Babafemi, in the early morning operation, a team of NDLEA officers, acting on credible intelligence, arrested one of Okpara’s couriers, 51-year-old Achebe Kenneth Nnamdi, while he was heading to Onitsha, Anambra State, in a white Toyota Sienna vehicle. The agency’s sniffer dogs were subsequently used to search the vehicle, after which 7.6 kilograms of cocaine and 900 grams of methamphetamine were found hidden in body compartments of the space bus.

Babafemi added that a follow-up operation was promptly carried out at Okpara’s hideout in Isheri, where an additional 1.8kg of cocaine and 1.3kg of methamphetamine were recovered from his residence.

In another incident, NDLEA operatives, in a joint operation with Aviation Security personnel of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, last Wednesday, recovered 7,790 pills of tramadol and rohypnol from the luggage of an Italy-bound passenger, Omoregie Nice Uyiosa.

The suspect, who was traveling to Italy via Istanbul on a Turkish Airlines flight, claimed he purchased the drugs himself, hoping to sell them in Italy at higher prices.

In another arrest at the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives at the export shed on Thursday, July 17, intercepted 17 parcels of skunk, a strain of cannabis, weighing 1.70kg. The drugs were concealed in packs of popular cereal, Golden Morn, and were part of a consolidated cargo destined for Pakistan.

A suspect, Chioba Robert Uchenna, who presented the consignment for shipment, was arrested.

Babafemi also reported that NDLEA operatives on Saturday, July 19, raided a hotel on Ogudu Road in the Kosofe area of Lagos, where various party drugs were being distributed and sold. The raid followed credible intelligence and surveillance, which confirmed a suspect, Obayemi Oyetade, as the arrowhead of the drug network. At the time of the operation, 1.30kg of Chocolate Cannabis, 900 grams of gummies, and 22.9 grams of skunk were recovered from Obayemi’s room in the hotel, a 20-room facility run as a family business, housing his mother and siblings. Other items recovered from the hotel include three vehicles, Babafemi added.