NDLEA destroys N15.1bn cannabis in four-state Operation Weed Eater
Nigeria's NDLEA ran the twelve-day Operation Weed Eater across Ekiti, Edo, Delta and Kogi states, destroying plantations and intercepting trucks for a stated 1,514,278 kg of cannabis worth N15.1 billion. Ten suspects were arrested, including the Akunnubas syndicate's operational head.
Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency ran a twelve-day sting,
Operation Weed Eater, across Ekiti, Edo, Delta and Kogi states with one
hundred officers drawn from several state commands.[1][2]Officers destroyed
cannabis plantations at Ise Forest Reserve in Ise/Orun and at Ode Camp in
Gboyin, both in Ekiti State, and at Utese Forest Reserve in Edo State.[1][2]
Further interceptions included a forty-foot container loaded with 19,675 kg
found on a truck along Amai Road in Obiaruku, Delta State, and two trucks
carrying 2,103 kgseized in Lokoja, Kogi State.[1]In Ekiti alone the
agency said 1.5 million kg of cannabis was destroyed on two plantations.[1]The NDLEA put the total haul at 1,514,278 kg with a street value of
N15.1 billion.[1][2]
Officers arrested Uche Obi, described as the operational head of the Akunnubas
cannabis syndicate and known as “King Maker”, along with seven other members
of the syndicate and two truck drivers.[1][2]The agency said the cartel
controlled much of the cannabis business in the South-West and South-South,
hired cheap labour including school-age children for its farms, and moved the
processed drug by motorcycle to covert warehouses and then by truck for
interstate distribution.[1]
Photos and video
Two detained suspects sit before bags of seized cannabis in Delta StatePhoto details
The report uses 20 December 2014, the date of the NDLEA announcement; the twelve-day operation itself ran for about two weeks before that.
The state-by-state figures (1.5 million kg in Ekiti, 9,300 kg in Edo, 19,675 kg in Delta, 2,103 kg in Kogi) add up to slightly more than the 1,514,278 kg total the agency announced.
The 1.5 million kg figure covers whole plantations destroyed and is a fresh-plant weight, not dried cannabis.
Both outlets carry the same Saturday PUNCH report; no independent second account was found.
No names for the other people arrested and no later court outcome were reported.
NDLEA operatives stopped a car on the Auchi-Ibillo Road in Akoko Edo, Edo State, and seized 19 bags of cannabis weighing 201 kg in a roundup of cannabis seizures reported on 8 November 2026. The same roundup reported a Benin City drug-joint raid, three arrests at a Taraba checkpoint with 226.255 kg of compressed cannabis, and further raids in Ondo and Lagos.
NDLEA operatives recovered 1,818 kg of cannabis packed in 148 bags in a raid on Odofin Road, Uso, in Ondo State, destroyed a one-hectare cannabis farm in Board Forest and recovered a further 242 kg. Officers arrested 36-year-old Itoro Linus Akpan in operations reported on 8 November 2026.
NDLEA officers found 16.15 kg of Loud cannabis hidden in two wooden sofas from Houston at Lagos airport on 4 November 2026. A freight agent who came to clear the cargo and a caterer who came to collect it were arrested.
NDLEA officers at Lagos airport found 1.20 kilogrammes of cannabis in two of nine parcels hidden in cartons of snacks from the United Kingdom, and arrested a 51-year-old freight agent who came to clear them. The other seven parcels held chemicals for making synthetic cannabis, and a sting in late October 2026 led to a second arrest.