NDLEA nabs Malaysian returnee with Meth hidden in music speakers
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 41-year-old ex-convict and Malaysian returnee, Ndubuisi Udatu (alias Richard), for attempting to smuggle 2.7 kilograms of methamphetamine concealed inside two giant music speakers.
According to the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, Udatu was apprehended on Monday, April 7, 2025, at an NDLEA checkpoint in Namtari, along the Ngurore–Yola Road in Adamawa State, while traveling in a commercial bus. The drugs were reportedly intended for distribution in Yola, Mubi, and Cameroon.
“He was found with two new music speakers containing four packages of methamphetamine and a cash exhibit of ₦22,300,” Babafemi said.
“Ndubuisi confessed to returning to Nigeria to resume drug trafficking after serving a jail term in Malaysia for similar offences.”
In a separate joint border operation with Customs officials at the Nigeria–Cameroon border in Mfum, Cross River State, NDLEA operatives arrested Odoh Peter Ikechukwu, 35, for trafficking 8,740 ampoules of assorted opioids, weighing 395kg. Seized substances include: 1,080 ampoules of fentanyl injection, 2,160 ampoules of morphine sulphate injection and 330 ampoules of midazolam injection.
In Kano, operatives on April 11 arrested Aliyu Ibrahim, 27, with 25,600 pills of Tramadol (225mg and 250mg) and 20 ATM cards in the Bachirawa area.
Similarly, in Abuja, 48-year-old Gambo Lawan was arrested at Wazobia Motor Park, Gwagwalada, after NDLEA officers intercepted a consignment containing 8,960 Tramadol pills during a routine check along Gwagwalada Expressway on April 7.
In Niger State, operatives recovered 124 kilograms of skunk (a potent strain of cannabis) from a Lexus vehicle (KTU 54 CU) driven by Ademiluyi Adedapo Collins, 58, on Mokwa–Jebba Road on April 11.
Beyond enforcement, NDLEA intensified its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) through sensitisation campaigns in schools, communities, and religious institutions. Recent outreach efforts include:
New Era Secondary School, Nteje, Anambra, Promise Land College, Ikotun Egbe, Lagos, Cherryfield College, Jikwoyi, FCT, Federal Polytechnic, Ayede, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, and Nurul Faruq Islamic Academy, Gombi, Adamawa.
A courtesy visit to Oloro of Oro Kingdom, Oba Joel Olaniyi Oyatoye Titiloye Olufayo II, in Kwara State
NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the agency’s operatives in Adamawa, Cross River, FCT, Kano, and Niger State for their outstanding performance.
“Our officers must not rest on their oars. We must continue to raise the bar in both our offensive operations against drug cartels and our advocacy for drug demand reduction,” Marwa charged.
