Nigerian authorities seize $28m worth of cocaine wey dey go UK, gbab social media influencer

Di NDLEA say e bin dey carry €7,750, £2,800 and ₦100,000 wen dem gbab am for di boarding gate.

Di second suspect chop allegation say im be staff member of one logistics company wey dem dey use transport di cocaine.

Di NDLEA say e bin package cocaine for export and dem pay am in cash.

According to di agency, oda suspected members of di network for UK don also chop arrest by counterpart law enforcement agencies overseas.

Nigerian authorities don tok say dem seize cocaine wey dey go di United Kingdom, and wey worth estimated $27.7m (₦39 billion).

Dem find 184.5kg of di substance wey dey concealed for brown boxes for one courier facility for Lagos on Monday, 3 August.

Di National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) say na international trafficking network dey export am. Dem say di network don dey use Nigeria as transit hub to move drugs to di UK and oda parts of Europe and to Asia.

Two key Nigerian suspects don chop arrest as part of di investigation, including one social media influencer wit nearly 700,000 followers on Instagram.

Di agency say e bin present imsef online as businessman and influencer wey dey deal in gold and luxury goods, but allegation be say e bin move cocaine from South America through Nigeria, to Europe and Asia.

Dem gbab am on Thursday, 13 August for Murtala Mohammed International for Lagos as e bin wan leave di kontri on a business-class flight to Paris.

Di head of di NDLEA, General Buba Marwa (retired), say di arrests demonstrate wetin fit dey achieved wen international agencies work togeda and vow to pursue oda members of di network.

E say, "We go track you to departure gates if we must."

Dis dey come almost two months afta NDLEA bust one multi-billion naira factory for deep inside one forest for Oyo State, southwest Nigeria, wia dem dey produce methamphetamine on large industrial scale.

Di anti-drug agency call am "massive factory-level production line of poison".

Methamphetamine na one lab-made (synthetic) stimulant wey dey veri addictive. E also dey known as "crystal meth," "Tina," or "ice." E dey make pipo high.

During one press conference for NDLEA headquarters, tok-tok pesin of di agency Femi Babafemi wey represent dia oga patapata Buba Marwa, tok say dia operatives bust one fortified, industrial-scale secret methamphetamine laboratory wey one Nigerian-Mexican cartel dey operate deep inside di forest of Tapa Village, Ibarapa North Local Govment Area of di state.

Babafemi say dis discovery lead to di arrest of one 56-year-old Mexican methamphetamine expert and four oda Nigerians.

"On Wednesday, 17th June 2026, tactical operatives of di NDLEA bin storm one highly fortified, industrial-scale clandestine methamphetamine laboratory wey dey operate deep within di forest of Tapa Village, Ibarapa North Local Govment Area, Oyo State."