The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency ( NDLEA) has nabbed a 49-year old man, Innocent Ekpe, who allegedly impersonated a senior police officer to evade checkpoints while transporting illicit drugs.
He was apprehended by operatives of the NDLEA in, Asaba, Delta State.
Ekpe was arrested alongside his alleged accomplice, 39-year old Nduka Joseph, on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, along the Benin-Onitsha Expressway in Asaba.
According to the NDLEA, Ekpe had been parading himself as Godwin Emeka, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, while using a forged police identification card to escape scrutiny at checkpoints.
The agency said 292.48 kilogrammes of skunk were recovered from a silver Toyota Sienna bus in which the suspects were travelling.
NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.
Babafemi said the arrest was part of a series of operations in which NDLEA operatives intercepted more than 1.3 million pills of tramadol and other opioids, as well as about 6,000 kilogrammes of cannabis, with a combined street value of more than ₦3.4 billion across several states.
However, the fake policeman’s arrest was among the major operations highlighted by the agency.
According to the NDLEA, investigation into Ekpe’s activities showed that he allegedly used the identity of Godwin Emeka, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, and a forged ID card to facilitate the movement of illicit drug consignments across state lines.
The agency said the fake identity was used to evade security checks at checkpoints.
In a separate operation in Edo State, NDLEA operatives arrested 45-year-old Matthew Ossai at an auto-repair workshop on Agbor Road, Benin City.
The agency alleged that Ossai used the workshop as a front for storing illicit drugs.
NDLEA said officers recovered 48 kilogrammes of Canadian Loud and 152 grammes of methamphetamine from the location, as well as a metal box allegedly used to store the substances.
The agency also reported another major seizure at the Tin-Can Island Port in Lagos, where 1,200 parcels of Canadian Loud weighing 603.75 kilograms were intercepted.
The shipment, which arrived from Montreal, Canada, on September 12, was subjected to a joint physical examination involving NDLEA, the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies on September 16.
The drugs, valued by the agency at ₦1.811 billion, were allegedly concealed inside 31 black jumbo bags loaded into two Toyota Sienna vehicles inside a 40-foot container.
NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd.), commended officers involved in the operations and urged them to maintain what he described as a balanced approach to drug control.
