N5BN COCAINE HAUL IN CHILDREN’S ROOM: NDLEA BUSTS FEMALE DRUG KINGPIN, NABS ITALY-BOUND COURIERS IN NATIONWIDE SWEEP

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested Shodunke Simbiat, a 39-year-old suspected drug trafficker, after uncovering cocaine worth over N5 billion hidden inside her children’s room at her Lagos apartment.
In a statement on Sunday, NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi said the arrest followed months of intelligence gathering and surveillance that identified Simbiat as a key stash keeper for a trans-border drug trafficking network.
Operatives tracked her to her residence at 31 Onasanya Street, Surulere, Lagos, on Tuesday, December 9, 2025. A thorough search of the apartment led to the recovery of 23.50 kilograms of cocaine, neatly packed in blocks and concealed in a black suitcase inside the children’s room.
Babafemi said Simbiat admitted ownership of the drugs, which he described as having a street value exceeding N5 billion.
The agency noted that the arrest came 20 months after the dismantling of a major cocaine cartel led by Bolanle Lookman Dauda and Olayinka Toheebat Dauda. The couple was arrested on May 25, 2024, along the Lagos–Badagry Expressway while attempting to smuggle cocaine across the land border to Ghana. A total of 57.5 kilograms of cocaine worth billions of naira was seized from them following a follow-up raid at their Agbara residence in Ogun State.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on Thursday arrested a 36-year-old businessman, Nwanwene Robinson Destiny, at the Terminal II departure hall while attempting to board a Royal Air Maroc flight to Milan, Italy. A search of his luggage revealed 1,020 pills of Tramadol 225mg and Tapentadol 200mg. He reportedly confessed he was to be paid €200 upon delivery in Italy.
At the Seme border, Badagry, officers arrested a 48-year-old Beninese national, Leocardi Josu, on December 18 while attempting to enter Nigeria with 3,400 tablets of Tramadol 225mg.
In another operation, Abdullahi Adamu, 30, was intercepted along the Okene–Lokoja highway with 28.4 kilograms of skunk and Colorado, a potent synthetic cannabis strain.
In Oyo State, NDLEA operatives recovered 125,000 capsules of Tramadol and 1,800 ampoules of pentazocine injection from a Toyota Hiace bus on the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway. Two suspects, Ogunlade Kazeem, 54, and Adeleke Ismail, 30, were also arrested at Challenge Motor Park, Ibadan, with 185.4 kilograms of skunk.
In Osun State, a raid on the Owena/Ijesha forest led to the seizure of 405 kilograms of skunk and the arrest of Charles James, 45. On the same day, Jamilu Zakari, 42, was arrested at a tollgate along the Abuja–Kaduna highway with 14,960 pills of Tramadol 225mg, cleverly concealed inside sacks of kolanuts while travelling to Zamfara State.
Commending the officers involved, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd.), urged personnel to remain extra vigilant during the festive season and sustain professionalism in the agency’s fight against drug trafficking and abuse nationwide.