The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a convicted cocaine trafficker allegedly operating behind a herbal tea business while intercepting a 20,000-litre fuel tanker fitted with a concealed compartment for transporting cannabis.

The NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, disclosed the arrests and other drug seizures in a statement on Sunday, detailing a series of operations carried out in Lagos, Ondo and other locations.

According to Babafemi, the 34-year-old suspect, Dunu Bethel Ebubechukwu, was tracked and arrested after the agency intercepted 1.2kg of cocaine concealed inside phone chargers at a courier company in Lagos on July 31, 2026.

The consignment was allegedly destined for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Following the seizure, operatives of the agency’s Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) commenced an intelligence-led operation to identify and apprehend the alleged mastermind.

Ebubechukwu was eventually arrested during a sting operation at Article Market, opposite Trade Fair Market in the Ojo area of Lagos, on Friday, September 4.

The agency said he was posing as a herbal tea businessman at the time of his arrest.

Babafemi said the suspect admitted to masterminding previous illicit drug shipments and disclosed that he discarded his telephone SIM card after learning that the latest cocaine consignment had been intercepted.

The NDLEA further alleged that Ebubechukwu had a previous drug trafficking conviction.

The agency said he was arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, in 2011 after allegedly ingesting 900 grammes of cocaine and 130 grammes of heroin while attempting to travel to Austria.

He was prosecuted and convicted and sentenced to five years in prison under the name Dunu Chukwuyenre Enoch.

The NDLEA said the suspect subsequently changed his name to Dunu Bethel Ebubechukwu and allegedly returned to the illicit drug trade after completing his prison sentence.

A search of his residence on Yemishola Street, Ejigbo, Lagos, reportedly yielded phone chargers similar to those used in concealing the cocaine shipment intercepted in July.

The agency said the internal components of the chargers had been removed to create compartments for hiding drugs.

In a separate operation at the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives seized 966,200 tablets of tramadol 225mg, with an estimated street value of more than N1.1 billion.

The pharmaceutical drugs were reportedly concealed among thrift trousers contained in a 21-carton consignment imported from Pakistan.

The agency also recovered 57.80kg of Loud, a strain of cannabis valued at more than N173 million.

The cannabis was concealed inside cartons of disposable hand gloves imported from Singapore.

According to the NDLEA, the consignment had remained unclaimed for several weeks before it was subjected to a joint examination by its operatives, the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies on September 3.

Meanwhile, in Ondo State, NDLEA operatives intercepted a 20,000-litre fuel tanker allegedly modified with a hidden compartment for transporting illicit drugs.

The tanker, with registration number MKA 960 XC, was intercepted along the Akoko-Lokoja Expressway on Friday.

The agency said the vehicle had allegedly evaded arrest on previous occasions and that its driver refused to stop when operatives attempted to intercept it.

The driver reportedly abandoned the tanker on the premises of a church in Ugbe Akoko and escaped into the bush.

A subsequent search of the vehicle uncovered a concealed compartment containing 165 bags of cannabis weighing 2,145kg.

The tanker also contained a quantity of fuel reportedly being transported to Jos, Plateau State.