The 20,000-litre tanker, with registration number MKA 960 XC, was stopped along the Akoko/Lokoja Expressway on Friday, September 4, 2026, during an operation by NDLEA officers.
The agency said the driver ignored the officers’ instruction to stop before abandoning the vehicle at a church premises in Ugbe Akoko and escaping into a nearby bush.
According to NDLEA Director of Media and Publicity, Femi Babafemi, a subsequent search of the tanker revealed a concealed compartment containing 165 bags of cannabis weighing 2,145kg.
The illicit consignment was reportedly hidden alongside the legitimate fuel cargo, which was being transported to Jos,
Plateau State.
The agency described the seizure as a major breakthrough, noting that the tanker had allegedly been involved in previous attempts to evade interception.
The operation was part of a wider nationwide crackdown that produced significant drug recoveries across Lagos, Adamawa, Ondo, Kaduna, Bauchi, Ekiti, Kogi, Taraba and Enugu states.
In Lagos, NDLEA officers intercepted 966,200 tablets of Tramadol 225mg, estimated to be worth more than N1.1 billion.
The drugs were concealed among thrift trousers in a 21-carton shipment originating from Pakistan.
A separate operation in the state also led to the recovery of 57.8kg of Loud, a potent synthetic cannabis strain, from a consignment shipped from Singapore. The substance was valued at over N173 million.
At the Tincan Port in Lagos, operatives seized 598.08kg of cannabis-infused cookies and gummies packed in 890 packets inside a 40-foot container. The seizure followed an earlier interception involving 842.54kg of cannabis-laced cookies.
In Adamawa, officers recovered 864,000 opioid tablets, mainly tramadol, from a residence reportedly linked to a suspect who fled before the operation. Another 2kg of methamphetamine was seized in Michika.
Meanwhile, 636kg of cannabis was discovered concealed beneath chicken manure in a bus travelling from Ondo State towards Jos. The vehicle was intercepted along the Okene/Lokoja highway in Kogi State.
Taraba operatives also intercepted a vehicle travelling from Onitsha, Anambra State, to Yola, Adamawa State, recovering more than 109kg of various controlled substances.
The drugs included tramadol, diazepam, pentazocine, phenobarbital, nitrazepam, bromazepam and pregabalin.
In Kaduna, NDLEA officers stopped a truck carrying bags of cement along the Zaria-Kano Expressway and uncovered 1,179kg of skunk concealed in the vehicle.
In Ekiti State, operatives destroyed a four-hectare cannabis plantation located in the Efon-Alaaye forest and recovered 117kg of already harvested cannabis.
Another seizure was recorded in Enugu State, where 40,590 tramadol capsules were intercepted at Ugbema Junction.
Babafemi said the series of seizures reflected the agency’s continued reliance on intelligence-driven operations to disrupt trafficking networks and prevent illicit drugs from reaching communities.
He added that traffickers were constantly developing new ways of concealing and moving illegal substances, making sustained intelligence gathering and coordinated enforcement operations necessary.
The NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd.), commended the officers involved in the operations and urged them to maintain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control.
Marwa warned that traffickers who attempt to escape detection by operating under new identities, using legitimate businesses as fronts or adopting sophisticated concealment techniques would continue to be pursued by the agency.
