By our reporter 21.12.2025
A female drug kingpin specialised in cross-border drug trafficking, Shodunke Yetunde Simbiat has been arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.
Simbiat was a part of a cocaine trafficking syndicate with bases in Lagos and Ogun states.
According to a statement by NDELA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, the 39-year-old Simbiat was arrested following continued intelligence gathering and surveillance by NDLEA agents.
Babafemi said Simbiat was tracked to her residence on December 9, 2025, and drugs were found hidden in her children’s room worth N5bn.
“Determined to rein in every member of the syndicate, the NDLEA operatives continued with follow-up intelligence and surveillance on the trans-border drug trafficking organisation until a 39-year-old female stash keeper, Shodunke Yetunde Simbiat, was identified as a key member of the DTO. As a result, she was trailed to her 31 Onasanya street, Surulere, Lagos residence on Tuesday, 9th December 2025.
“A thorough search of her home led to the discovery of blocks of cocaine weighing 23.50 kilograms concealed in a black suitcase recovered from her children’s room. She admitted ownership of the drug consignment worth over N5billion in street value.”
In a related development, he said NDLEA operatives at the Terminal II departure hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, on Thursday, December 18, intercepted a 36-year-old businessman, Nwanwene Robinson Destiny, while attempting to board a Royal Air Maroc flight to Milan, Italy. A total of 1,020 pills of tramadol 225mg and tapentadol 200mg were found concealed in his luggage.
Also, at the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, NDLEA officers on Thursday, December 18, arrested a 48-year-old Beninoise, Leocardi Josu, while attempting to enter Nigeria with 3,400 tablets of tramadol 225mg.
“A suspect, Abdullahi Adamu, 30, was nabbed along the Okene/Lokoja highway with 28.400kg skunk, a strain of cannabis and Colorado, a synthetic cannabis, on Friday, 19th December. In Oyo state, NDLEA operatives on Friday 19th December recovered 125,000 capsules of tramadol and 1,800 ampoules of pentazocine injection in a Toyota Hiace bus marked XD 592 AWL along Lagos-Ibadan expressway, while two suspects: Ogunlade Kazeem, 54, and Adeleke Ismail, 30, were arrested with 185.4 kilograms of skunk at Challenge motor park, Ibadan, on Wednesday 17th December, ” the statement added.