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NDLEA Arrests Wanted Lagos Drug Kingpin, Seizes Over 1.5 Tons of Cannabis

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  • NDLEA arrests Lagos socialite over 1,540kg cannabis haul.
  • Alhaja Elediye exposed as leader of Mushin drug cartel.
  • Illicit drug shipment intercepted; kingpin nabbed.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) announced on Sunday that its operatives arrested a wanted drug kingpin and Lagos socialite, Alhaja Aishat Feyisara Ajoke Elediye.

EKO HOT BLOG reports that he 61-year-old Alhaja was arrested on Wednesday, January 1, 2025, at her mansion in the Okota area of Lagos.

The arrest followed the interception of a truck loaded with illicit drugs allegedly linked to her staff earlier that day.

Spokesperson for the agency, Femi Babafemi, stated: “Known in the drug underworld as ‘Iya Ruka,’ Alhaja Ajoke, as she is fondly called in social circles, has had her true identity shrouded in mystery for years while she remained on the NDLEA’s wanted list for leading one of the drug cartels operating in the Mushin area of Lagos.

“The lid was, however, blown off her invincibility on Wednesday, January 1, 2025, when NDLEA operatives, acting on intelligence, intercepted a white Isuzu truck carrying 44 jumbo sacks containing 1,540 kilograms of imported cannabis. The truck was driven by her staff member, 41-year-old Abideen Adio.

“Thereafter, the operatives stormed her hideout at 33 Adebayo Oyewole Street, off Ago Palace Way, Okota, where they arrested her.

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“On the surface, Alhaja Ajoke is a businesswoman who imports fabrics and shoes from China, but beneath that facade is a massive illicit drug trade.

“She is also recognized as the Iyalaje of the Blessing Sisters, an influential club of society women in Lagos.”

In another major operation, NDLEA officers arrested a US-trained filmmaker, Emeka Emmanuel Mbadiwe, on Friday, December 27, 2024, at his hotel room in Lekki. Mbadiwe, who is also a motivational speaker, was implicated after his partner, Uzoekwe Ugochukwu James, was arrested earlier that same day at a warehouse in Ajao Estate, Ikeja. James had been sent by Mbadiwe to collect a shipment of 33 parcels of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis weighing 17.30 kilograms. The shipment, which had arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, on December 24, 2024, from the United States via a Delta Airline flight, was concealed in large wooden boxes.

In Kwara State, a fresh graduate, Khadijat Abdulraheem, 24, and a 20-year-old University of Ilorin student, Ayomide Morakinyo, were arrested on Sunday, December 29, 2024, by NDLEA operatives at Tanke-University of Ilorin Road, Oke Odo, Ilorin. The arrests followed credible intelligence that the duo was producing and selling drug-laced cupcakes to students in the community. A search of their apartment yielded 42 pieces of the drugged cakes.

Ex-convict Sodade Sunday Eniola, who had been arrested in June 2024 by the Tincan Command of the NDLEA for drug trafficking, prosecuted, and sentenced to four years in prison, was arrested again by officers of the MMIA Strategic Command for passport racketeering.

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When he was convicted by a Federal High Court in Lagos on June 14, 2024, the trial judge gave him the option of paying a fine of ₦750,000, which he paid and was released.

In December 2024, during a series of operations at the export shed of the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives intercepted 52 passports of different nationalities concealed in shoe soles and food items. The passports were part of shipments destined for Canada, Russia, and other countries.

Further investigations led to the arrest of four members of three syndicates involved in the racket: Sodade Sunday Eniola, Ayinde Saheed Awwal, Salaudeen Afeez Ayode, and Sheriff Adebayo Bamigbade. The suspects and exhibits were handed over on Monday, December 30, 2024, to the Zonal Command of the Nigerian Immigration Service in Lagos for further investigation and possible prosecution.

NDLEA operatives recovered 316,800 bottles of codeine-based syrup from two containers during a joint operation with Nigeria Customs and other security agencies at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne, Rivers State, on December 31, 2024.

In Kano, on the same day, NDLEA operatives raided the Mafarki, Dan Dishe area of Dala Local Government, recovering 149,090 pills of tramadol and exol-5 from a local dealer, 45-year-old Ismail Muhammad.

The NDLEA continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization activities nationwide, targeting schools, worship centers, workplaces, and communities. Recent efforts included lectures for traders at Ido-Osi Central Market, Ekiti State, and Muslim worshippers during Juma’at prayers at Birnin Kudu Central Mosque, Jigawa State.

Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the officers and men of the MMIA, Lagos, Kano, PHPC, and Kwara Commands for their arrests and seizures. He acknowledged their operational successes and praised their balanced approach to reducing both drug supply and demand across the country.

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