Monday, January 5, 2026 - Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA)
have arrested a wanted female kingpin described as a major distributor of
illicit drugs in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The suspect, 65-year-old Fatima Ilori, popularly known as
Mama Kerosine, was arrested in an intelligence-led operation following the
seizure of 238.4 kg of skunk, a strain of cannabis, allegedly linked to her.
Confirming the development in a statement yesterday, the
agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said Ilori was arrested on Monday,
December 29, 2025, alongside another female suspect, Olusanya Abosede, 35, at
the Onireke/Elekuro area of Ibadan.
Babafemi also disclosed that the agency intercepted various
quantities of illicit substances, including ketamine, ecstasy and tramadol
pills, concealed in sachets of coffee mix and book parcels destined for Zambia
and the United Kingdom.
The seizures, made at a courier company in Lagos on December
24 and 29, 2025, came as the agency took into custody 22 Indian crew members of
a merchant vessel, MV Aruna Hulya, from which 31.5 kg of cocaine was seized at
the GDNL Terminal, Apapa Port, Lagos, on Friday, January 2, 2026.
Those detained in connection with the discovery of the
cocaine in hatch three of the vessel, which originated from the Marshall
Islands, include the master of the ship, Sharma Shashi Bhushan, and 21 other
crew members: Bharati Manoj Kumar; Bhalerao Nilesh Mukund; Nadar Anthony Macson
David; Kolusu Srinivasa Rao; Sagar Gaurav; Francis Anto Beemas Nester; Jagdeep
Singh; Jai Parkash; Prabhukhan Singh; Nevage Sandesh Suresh; Pandey Prashant;
Nittu Anand; Akash Babu; Dasari Raju; Reddy Nandika Sanjeeba; Rana Nivesh;
Melethil Insaf Rahman; Barla Chantanya Krishna; Ghosh Arijit; Mondal Raihan;
and Gangwar Shiv Om.
In Borno State, the NDLEA said the supply chain of
illicit drugs to insurgents was further disrupted with the arrest of two
suspected suppliers and the seizure of large consignments of drugs.
One of the suspects, Isa Mohammed, 26, was arrested
following the interception of 9,150 ampoules of tramadol injection along the
Maiduguri–Gamboru Ngala road on Friday, January 2, 2026. The second suspect,
Musa Samaila, 30, was arrested with 34,000 capsules of tramadol at Biu market
the same day.
In Lagos, about 400 kg of skunk was recovered alongside a
van in the Mobolaji Johnson area on New Year’s Day, Thursday, January 1.
Meanwhile, a suspect, Bilya Ibrahim, 39, was arrested at a motor park in
Hadejia town, Jigawa State, on Tuesday, December 30, 2025, while attempting to
transport 260 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 140.8 kg, allegedly sourced
from Taraba State and destined for Nguru, Yobe State.
Similarly, in Kwara State, NDLEA operatives on Tuesday, December 30, recovered 238.5 kg of skunk from the residence of a suspect in the Asadam area of Ilorin. Another suspect, Abubakar Rabiu, 32, was arrested at Bode Saadu in Moro Local Council on New Year’s Eve, Wednesday, December 31, 2025, with a total of 32,000 pills of tramadol and diazepam.
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