The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Delta State Command, has seized illicit drugs with an estimated street value of more than ₦2 billion in various intelligence-led operations across the state between July 2025 and September 2026.
The Command also destroyed 36.2 hectares of Cannabis Sativa farmland in three separate operations, in what it described as an intensified effort to prevent Delta State from becoming a major transit route, cultivation centre, storage point and distribution hub for illicit drugs.
The Delta State Commander of the NDLEA, Halilu Hamidi, disclosed this on Tuesday at a press briefing in Ogwashi-Uku, where he presented the Command’s operational achievements since assuming office in July 2025.
Hamidi said the Command had concentrated its activities on two major objectives: reducing the supply of illicit drugs and preventing people, particularly young Nigerians, from becoming drug users.
According to him, the objectives had been pursued through intelligence-led operations, public enlightenment, counselling and collaboration with relevant stakeholders.
He said the Command’s seizures during the period included a staggering 2.446497 tonnes of solid drug exhibits, comprising different categories of narcotics and psychotropic substances.
Among the substances recovered were 1.387751 tonnes of Cannabis Sativa, 81.023kg of Cannabis seeds, 0.1511kg of cocaine, 0.0317kg of heroin, 0.8906kg of methamphetamine and 2.303kg of Molly.
Others included 666.295kg of Tramadol, 16.113kg of Swinol/Rohypnol, 52.940kg of Diazepam/Bromazepam, 5,190.8kg of Exol, 0.7395kg of Cocodamol and 47.560kg of nitrous oxide, popularly known as laughing gas.
The Commander further disclosed that operatives recovered 1,304.630 litres of liquid drug exhibits, including 819.327 litres of Codeine, 14.310 litres of Pentazocine Injection, 0.013 litres of Diazepam Injection and 0.403 litres of Tramadol Injection.
Also recovered was 54.993 litres of a mixture of Cannabis and dry gin.
Major trafficking routes under watch
Hamidi said the Command’s operations had uncovered the extent to which traffickers were attempting to exploit Delta’s major highways and commercial centres to move illicit substances.
One of the major operations, he said, involved a raid on a warehouse at Oko Market, Asaba, where illicit substances allegedly meant for distribution were stored.
The exhibits recovered from the warehouse were estimated to have a street value of more than ₦150 million.
In another major operation, NDLEA operatives intercepted a truck conveying illicit substances along the Benin–Asaba Expressway.
At Issele-Uku, the operatives intercepted a truck loaded with Codeine worth an estimated ₦150 million on the illicit market.
Another truck was intercepted at Agbor, along the Asaba–Benin Expressway, carrying various psychotropic substances estimated at ₦100 million.
The Command also intercepted two commercial buses along the Onitsha–Asaba Expressway, recovering different psychotropic substances with an estimated street value of more than ₦300 million.
The seizures, according to the NDLEA, point to the increasing attempts by drug trafficking networks to exploit Delta’s position as a major transportation corridor connecting the South-South and South-East regions.
NDLEA tackles cultivation at source
Beyond intercepting drugs in transit, the Command also intensified operations against local cultivation, destroying a combined 36.2 hectares of Cannabis Sativa farms in different communities.
Hamidi said 10.2 hectares of cannabis farmland were destroyed at Emu-Obiogo village in Ndokwa West Local Government Area on August 15, 2025; while another 11 hectares were destroyed at Obiaruku community in Ukwani Local Government Area on May 10, 2026.
Two days later, on May 12, 2026, operatives destroyed a further 15 hectares of Cannabis Sativa farmland at Orogun community in Ughelli North Local Government Area, he added
