National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brigadier-General Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), disclosed that NDLEA operatives had seized 184.5 kilogrammes of cocaine from a courier company and arrested two suspects in connection with the consignment.
Marwa described the operation as the largest cocaine seizure from a courier firm in the agency’s history, highlighting the scale of the interception as NDLEA intensifies its efforts against organised drug trafficking networks operating through legitimate commercial channels.
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The disclosure was made during a press briefing in Lagos, where Marwa outlined the agency’s latest breakthrough and the arrests linked to the consignment.
The development represents another significant intervention by the NDLEA in Lagos, a major international transport and commercial hub that has repeatedly featured in the agency’s investigations into illicit drug trafficking.
The NDLEA 184.5kg cocaine seizure is substantial, although it is important to distinguish the agency’s description of the operation as its largest seizure from a courier company from its overall record for cocaine seizures.
The NDLEA’s biggest single cocaine seizure remains the 2,139.5kg haul recovered from a warehouse in Ikorodu, Lagos, in September 2022.
That operation resulted in the arrest of members of an international drug syndicate and was described by the agency as its largest singular cocaine seizure.
The agency has continued to report major drug interceptions across Nigeria since then.
In 2025, for example, NDLEA officials disclosed a cocaine consignment worth more than $235 million seized at Tincan Island Port, describing it as the largest single cocaine seizure recorded at the port.
The agency has also expanded intelligence-led operations involving international partners.
Recent operations have involved cooperation with agencies including the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, alongside law enforcement authorities in Europe, as Nigerian authorities work to trace the networks behind large consignments rather than focusing solely on individual couriers.
The courier sector presents a particular challenge because legitimate logistics companies can be exploited by criminal networks seeking to move illicit substances without immediately attracting attention.
The latest operation therefore carries significance beyond the quantity recovered.
The arrest of two suspects could provide investigators with information about the origin, intended destination and wider network associated with the consignment, although the NDLEA has not yet publicly disclosed those details.
Marwa has repeatedly warned drug traffickers that the agency would pursue them through intelligence gathering, surveillance, arrests and prosecution.
In April 2025, the NDLEA said it had secured more than 10,572 convictions over the preceding four years, underscoring the agency’s intensified enforcement campaign.
The NDLEA’s latest seizure also comes against a broader backdrop of sustained concern over Nigeria’s role in international drug trafficking.
A United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime assessment has documented the use of postal and air courier networks in trafficking cocaine, heroin and other illicit substances through Nigeria and the wider region.
For the two suspects arrested in the Lagos operation, the next stage will be the investigation and any subsequent prosecution arising from the seized consignment.
An arrest does not, in itself, establish guilt, and the suspects remain entitled to due process under Nigerian law.
The agency is expected to provide further details as investigations continue, particularly on how the cocaine entered the courier system, where it was headed and whether other members of the trafficking network can be identified.
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The 184.5kg cocaine seizure nevertheless represents a striking interception for the NDLEA’s courier-focused operations and another indication of the agency’s growing emphasis on disrupting the logistics networks that facilitate large-scale drug trafficking.
