AfriPulse
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a woman suspected to be a major operative in a cocaine trafficking network earlier uncovered in Lagos and Ogun states.
The suspect, Shodunke Simbiat, was identified as a key member of the cartel about 20 months after NDLEA operatives dismantled the syndicate and recovered cocaine worth several billions of naira.
The cartel was previously linked to a couple who were apprehended on Saturday, May 25, 2024, at Ibiye along the Lagos–Badagry Expressway while allegedly attempting to transport cocaine across the land border into Ghana.
During their arrest, officers recovered 42 blocks of cocaine weighing 47.5 kilograms. A subsequent raid at their home located at Plot 24/25, OPIC Extension, Petedo Road, Agbara, Ogun State, yielded eight additional blocks of cocaine weighing 10 kilograms, raising the total seizure from the couple to 57.5 kilograms.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, disclosed that continued intelligence gathering and surveillance led operatives to identify 39-year-old Simbiat as the syndicate’s stash keeper.
Babafemi said the suspect was trailed to her residence on Tuesday, December 9, 2025, where cocaine valued at N5 billion was discovered hidden in her children’s room.
The statement partly read, “A swift follow-up operation in their residence at Plot 24/25 OPIC extension, Petedo road, Agbara, Ogun state, led to the recovery of an additional eight blocks of the same drug weighing 10kg, bringing the total weight of the consignment seized from the couple to 57.5 kilograms.
“Determined to rein in every member of the syndicate, the NDLEA operatives continued with follow-up intelligence and surveillance on the trans-border drug trafficking organisation until a 39-year-old female stash keeper, Shodunke Yetunde Simbiat, was identified as a key member of the DTO. As a result, she was trailed to her 31 Onasanya street, Surulere, Lagos residence on Tuesday, 9th December 2025.
“A thorough search of her home led to the discovery of blocks of cocaine weighing 23.50 kilograms concealed in a black suitcase recovered from her children’s room. She admitted ownership of the drug consignment worth over N5billion in street value.”
In a related operation, Babafemi said NDLEA officers stationed at the Terminal II departure hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, intercepted a 36-year-old businessman, Nwanwene Destiny, on Thursday, December 18, while he was attempting to board a Royal Air Maroc flight to Milan, Italy.
According to him, a total of 1,020 pills of tramadol 225mg and tapentadol 200mg were discovered concealed in the suspect’s luggage. Destiny reportedly told investigators that he was to be paid €200 upon successful delivery of the opioids in Italy.
Also on Thursday, December 18, NDLEA operatives at the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, arrested a 48-year-old Beninoise, Leocardi Josu, who was allegedly trying to enter Nigeria with 3,400 tablets of tramadol 225mg.
Babafemi further stated, “A suspect, Abdullahi Adamu, 30, was nabbed along the Okene/Lokoja highway with 28.400kg skunk, a strain of cannabis and Colorado, a synthetic cannabis, on Friday, 19th December. In Oyo state, NDLEA operatives on Friday 19th December recovered 125,000 capsules of tramadol and 1,800 ampoules of pentazocine injection in a Toyota Hiace bus marked XD 592 AWL along Lagos-Ibadan expressway, while two suspects: Ogunlade Kazeem, 54, and Adeleke Ismail, 30, were arrested with 185.4 kilograms of skunk at Challenge motor park, Ibadan, on Wednesday 17th December.”
In Osun State, the agency said its operatives seized 405 kilograms of skunk during a raid on the Owena/Ijesha forest, leading to the arrest of a 45-year-old suspect, Charles James, on Friday, December 19.
On the same day, another suspect, Jamilu Zakari, 42, was arrested at a tollgate along the Abuja–Kaduna highway while travelling from Abuja to Gusau, Zamfara State. He was allegedly found with 14,960 pills of tramadol 225mg concealed in two kolanut sacks.
Source: Platinumpost.ng | Read the Full Story…
