NDLEA nabs suspected female drug kingpin, recovers N5bn worth of cocaine
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a suspected key member of a cocaine trafficking syndicate previously dismantled in Lagos and Ogun states, Shodunke Yetunde Simbiat.
The arrest comes about 20 months after operatives of the NDLEA smashed a cocaine cartel led by a couple, Bolanle Lookman Dauda and Olayinka Toheebat Dauda, with multi-billion-naira worth of cocaine seized.
Lookman Dauda and Toheebat Dauda were arrested on Saturday, May 25, 2024, at Ibiye along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway while attempting to cross the land border to deliver cocaine to Ghana.
At the point of arrest, 42 blocks of cocaine weighing 47.5 kilograms were recovered from them.
A follow-up operation at their residence at Plot 24/25, OPIC Extension, Petedo Road, Agbara, Ogun State, led to the recovery of eight additional blocks of cocaine weighing 10 kilograms, bringing the total seizure from the couple to 57.5 kilograms.
A statement released on Sunday by the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said following continued intelligence gathering and surveillance, NDLEA operatives identified 39-year-old Simbiat as a key member and stash keeper of the trans-border drug trafficking organisation.
Babafemi said Simbiat was tracked to her residence on December 9, 2025, and drugs were found hidden in her children’s room worth N5bn.
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 development, he said NDLEA operatives at the Terminal II departure hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, on Thursday, December 18, intercepted a 36-year-old businessman, Nwanwene Robinson Destiny, while attempting to board a Royal Air Maroc flight to Milan, Italy. A total of 1,020 pills of tramadol 225mg and tapentadol 200mg were found concealed in his luggage.
He said the suspect claimed he would have been paid €200 for delivering the opioids in Italy.
Also, at the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, NDLEA officers on Thursday, December 18, arrested a 48-year-old Beninoise, Leocardi Josu, while attempting to enter Nigeria with 3,400 tablets of tramadol 225mg.
“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, ” the statement added.
In Osun State, he said NDLEA operatives seized 405 kilograms of skunk during a raid on the Owena/Ijesha forest, where a 45-year-old suspect, Charles James, was arrested on Friday, December 19.
On the same day, Babafemi said another suspect, Jamilu Zakari, 42, was arrested at a tollgate along the Abuja–Kaduna highway with 14,960 pills of tramadol 225mg concealed in two kolanut sacks while travelling from Abuja to Gusau, Zamfara State.
Commending officers of the Special Operations Unit and commands at MMIA, Seme, Kogi, Kaduna, Oyo and Osun for the arrests and seizures, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), urged them to remain vigilant during the festive season and maintain professionalism in drug supply and demand reduction efforts.
