NDLEA uncovers cocaine in palm kernel oil cans, arrests kingpin in Lagos hideout
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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.
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have 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 warehouse where the shipments are packaged were raided while all the three layers of the group were unraveled leading to the arrest of the kingpin.
NDLEA Director of Media & Advocacy, Mr Femi Babafemi disclose this in a release on Sunday.
Babafemi said that 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, he said, 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.
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 allegedly confessed to personally draining the oil from the tins to conceal the cocaine.
He disclosed that the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) social advocacy activities by NDLEA Commands equally continued across the country in the past week.
They include WADA sensitization lectures delivered to students and staff of Okere Grammar School, Saki, Oyo; Shasha Comprehensive High School, Alimosho, Lagos; Ma’ahad Ahmad Turaki Islamiyya, Sabon Gari, Kano; Ezi-Awka Community Secondary School, Awka, Anambra, and Madrasatul Ihsan, Area One Tsafe, Zamfara state, among others.
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