Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have apprehended a long-sought female drug trafficker, Shodunke Yetunde Simbiat, after uncovering a large cache of cocaine hidden inside her Lagos home.
The suspect was arrested following the discovery of 23.5 kilograms of cocaine concealed in a black suitcase kept in her children’s room at her residence in Surulere.
Her arrest comes nearly two years after the agency smashed a cocaine ring operating between Lagos and Ogun states.
NDLEA spokesperson, Mr. Femi Babafemi, said the latest operation was a breakthrough in the pursuit of members of the syndicate that was busted in May 2024, when two other leaders, Bolanle Lookman Dauda and his wife, Olayinka Toheebat Dauda, were arrested.
Babafemi explained that the couple were intercepted on Saturday, May 25, 2024, by operatives of the NDLEA Special Operations Unit at Ibiye on the Lagos–Badagry Expressway while allegedly attempting to move drugs across the border to Ghana.
“At the point of arrest, 42 blocks of cocaine weighing 47.5kg were found on them. A follow-up operation at their residence in Agbara, Ogun State, led to the recovery of an additional 10kg, bringing the total seizure from the couple to 57.5kg of cocaine,” he said.
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He added that Simbiat, identified as a key stash keeper in the network, went into hiding after those arrests but was eventually tracked through sustained intelligence gathering and surveillance.
“She was arrested on Tuesday, December 9, 2025, at her residence on Onasanya Street, Surulere, Lagos. A search of her apartment led to the discovery of 23.5kg of cocaine concealed in a black suitcase kept in her children’s room. She admitted ownership of the drugs, valued at over ₦5 billion in street value,” Babafemi said.
The agency also recorded a series of other interceptions across the country. At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, NDLEA officers at Terminal II on Thursday, December 18, stopped a 36-year-old businessman, Nwanwene Robinson Destiny, as he was about to board a Royal Air Maroc flight to Milan, Italy.
Officials said 1,020 pills of tramadol 225mg and tapentadol 200mg were found hidden in his luggage. The suspect reportedly told investigators he resides in Italy and was promised €200 for delivering the drugs.
At the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, a 48-year-old Beninese national, Leocardi Josu, was arrested the same day while trying to enter Nigeria with 3,400 tablets of tramadol 225mg.
In Kogi State, NDLEA operatives nabbed a 30-year-old man, Abdullahi Adamu, along the Okene–Lokoja highway on Friday, December 19, with 28.4 kilograms of skunk and Colorado, a synthetic cannabis variant.
Also on Friday, officers in Oyo State intercepted a Toyota Hiace bus on the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway and recovered 125,000 capsules of tramadol and 1,800 ampoules of pentazocine injection. Two suspects, Ogunlade Kazeem, 54, and Adeleke Ismail, 30, were later arrested with 185.4 kilograms of skunk at Challenge Motor Park in Ibadan on Wednesday, December 17.
In Osun State, operatives raided the Owena/Ijesha forest on Friday, December 19, seizing 405 kilograms of skunk and arresting a 45-year-old suspect, Charles James.
Meanwhile, another suspect, Jamilu Zakari, 42, was arrested at a tollgate along the Abuja–Kaduna highway with 14,960 pills of tramadol 225mg hidden in two sacks of kolanuts while travelling from Abuja to Gusau, Zamfara State.
Beyond enforcement, Babafemi said NDLEA commands nationwide intensified their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy over the past week, carrying out sensitisation programmes in schools, places of worship, workplaces and communities in states including Anambra, Katsina and Ekiti.
Commending the operations, the NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), praised officers of the Special Operations Unit and the commands at MMIA, Seme, Kogi, Kaduna, Oyo and Osun for their professionalism and effectiveness.
Marwa urged personnel to remain alert during the festive period and to sustain high standards in both drug supply suppression and demand reduction efforts nationwide.
