NDLEA Intercepts Notorious Fuel Tanker Hauling 2.1 Tonnes of Cannabis in Multi-State Crackdown
Abuja/Lagos, September 6, 2026—In one of the boldest drug interdictions of the year, operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted a 20,000-liter fuel tanker fitted with a sophisticated concealed compartment and packed with 2,145 kilograms of cannabis.
The tanker, marked MKA 960 XC and long known to the agency for repeatedly evading capture, was chased down along the Akoko/Lokoja Expressway in Ondo State on Friday, September 4.
Its driver refused to stop when flagged, later abandoning the vehicle at a church premises in Ugbe Akoko before fleeing into the bush.
A thorough search uncovered a false compartment carefully built into the tanker. Inside, officers found 165 bags of cannabis weighing a combined 2,145 kg—roughly 2.1 tonnes—nestled alongside what appeared to be a legitimate fuel cargo bound for Jos, Plateau State.
NDLEA Director of Media and Publicity Femi Babafemi described the seizure as a significant breakthrough in the agency’s intelligence-led campaign against increasingly sophisticated trafficking networks.
Part of a Coordinated Nationwide Sweep
The tanker bust formed the centrepiece of a wider coordinated crackdown spanning Lagos, Adamawa, Ondo, Kaduna, Bauchi, Ekiti, Kogi, Taraba and Enugu states.
Operatives recovered large quantities of cannabis, tramadol, methamphetamine, codeine and other psychotropic substances.
In Lagos, officers seized 966,200 tablets of Tramadol 225 mg valued at more than ₦1.1 billion, cleverly hidden among thrift trousers in a 21-carton consignment from Pakistan.
Another 57.80 kg of Loud (a potent synthetic cannabis strain) worth over ₦173 million was recovered from an unclaimed shipment of disposable hand gloves originating from Singapore.
Additional Lagos hauls included 598.08 kg of cannabis-laced cookies and gummies intercepted in a 40-foot container at Tincan Port, linked to an earlier seizure of similar products. \
Further operations in the state yielded over 2,300 kg of cannabis, cocaine, tramadol, and codeine syrup.
In Adamawa, operatives recovered 864,000 opioid pills from a residence linked to a fleeing suspect and seized 2 kg of methamphetamine in Michika.
In Kogi, 636 kg of cannabis was found concealed in chicken manure aboard a bus travelling from Ondo to Jos.
Taraba yielded more than 109 kg of assorted controlled substances, while Kaduna recorded 1,179 kg of skunk hidden in a cement-laden truck.
In Ekiti, officers destroyed a four-hectare cannabis farm in Efon-Alaaye forest and recovered 117 kg of harvested skunk. Enugu operations netted 40,590 capsules of tramadol.
Traffickers Adapting, Agency Responding
Babafemi noted that traffickers continue to invent new concealment methods and even reinvent themselves under new identities or legitimate business fronts. In a related development, NDLEA also arrested a previously convicted cocaine trafficker who had been posing as an herbal tea merchant in Lagos and was linked to shipments destined for Saudi Arabia.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd) praised the officers involved for their professionalism and urged them to maintain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control—combining interdiction with sustained public sensitization under the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) programme.
The latest operations underscore both the scale of Nigeria’s illicit drug challenge and the determination of enforcement agencies to disrupt supply networks before the substances reach communities and vulnerable young people.
As investigations continue and suspects face prosecution, the seizures serve as a clear reminder that no method of concealment—whether a false compartment in a fuel tanker, chicken manure, or everyday consumer goods—is beyond the reach of determined intelligence-led policing.
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