Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a suspected female drug kingpin and prominent member of a notorious trans-border trafficking organisation following a 20-month manhunt triggered by the earlier arrest of the group’s leaders.
NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi disclosed the development in a statement on Sunday.
He said the cocaine trafficking cartel, previously led by Bolanle Lookman Dauda and Olayinka Toheebat Dauda, was dismantled in Lagos and Ogun states, with multi-billion-naira worth of cocaine recovered.
Following the arrests, 39-year-old Shodunke Yetunde Simbiat, who had been underground since May 2024, was apprehended at her Lagos home. A search of her residence led to the discovery of 23.5 kilograms of cocaine hidden in her children’s room. Simbiat admitted ownership of the drug consignment, valued at over N5 billion.
“The kingpin Lookman and his queen Toheebat were arrested on 25 May 2024 by NDLEA operatives at Ibiye, along Lagos-Badagry expressway, while attempting to cross the land border to deliver a consignment in Ghana,” the statement read.
“At the time of their arrest, 42 blocks of cocaine weighing 47.5 kilograms were recovered. A follow-up raid at their Agbara, Ogun state residence yielded an additional 10 kilograms, bringing the total seized consignment to 57.5 kilograms. NDLEA operatives then continued surveillance until Simbiat was identified and apprehended.”
In separate operations, NDLEA officers intercepted 36-year-old businessman Nwanwene Robinson Destiny at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos on 18 December. He was found with 1,020 pills of tramadol 225mg and tapentadol 200mg concealed in his luggage while attempting to fly to Milan, Italy. Destiny claimed the shipment would have earned him €200 from the recipient.
On the same day, 48-year-old Beninoise national Leocardi Josu was arrested at the Seme border in Badagry with 3,400 tablets of tramadol 225mg. Another suspect, 30-year-old Abdullahi Adamu, was nabbed along the Okene/Lokoja highway on 19 December with 28.4 kilograms of skunk (a cannabis strain) and Colorado, a synthetic cannabis.
