Lagos, Nigeria – December 21, 2025 – In a major drug bust, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 39-year-old woman for storing 23.5 kilograms of cocaine, valued at over ₦5 billion, inside her children’s bedroom in Lagos.
The suspect, identified as Shodunke Yetunde Simbiat, was taken into custody on Tuesday, December 9, at her residence on 31 Onasanya Street in the Surulere area of Lagos.
NDLEA operatives, acting on sustained intelligence, conducted a search of the home. During the operation, they located a black suitcase in the children’s room. Inside the suitcase were blocks of cocaine weighing a total of 23.5 kilograms.
Simbiat admitted ownership of the illicit drug consignment, according to an official statement from the anti-narcotics agency. The street value of the seizure is estimated at a staggering ₦5 billion.
This arrest is not an isolated incident. It marks the culmination of a 20-month manhunt targeting a sophisticated trans-border drug trafficking syndicate.
The syndicate was first smashed in May 2024 when NDLEA operatives arrested its leaders, a couple named Bolanle Lookman Dauda and Olayinka Toheebat Dauda, as they attempted to cross the land border into Ghana. A total of 57.5 kilograms of cocaine was recovered from them at that time.
Following that initial breakthrough, the NDLEA launched follow-up operations to apprehend all remaining members of the organization. Simbiat was identified as a key player who had managed to evade capture and go underground until this week’s operation.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the officers involved in the successful operation. He urged all personnel to remain extra vigilant, especially as the festive season approaches when drug trafficking attempts often increase.
This significant seizure is part of a broader wave of recent interdictions by the NDLEA. In separate operations just this week, the agency made other notable arrests, including a 48-year-old Beninoise man caught at the Seme border with 3,400 tablets of tramadol. Additional seizures of opioids and cannabis were made in Oyo, Osun, and along the Abuja-Kaduna highway.
The NDLEA has confirmed that investigations into Simbiat’s case and the wider syndicate are ongoing.
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Woman Nabbed in Lagos With ₦5 Billion Cocaine Stashed in Children’s Room
