Operatives of a special operations unit of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have arrested a wanted 60-year-old drug kingpin, Okpara Paul Chigozie, ending seven years of evading the long arm of the law.
He was caught attempting to ship large quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine to the Southeast and other parts of the country.
Okpara who has been on the wanted list of NDLEA since 2019 was eventually nabbed at his hideout at 72 Micheal Ojo Street, Isheri in Ojo area of Lagos State on Sunday 13th July 2025 following the interception of some of his consignments at 5:45am same day at Ilasamaja along Apapa-Oshodi Expressway.
In the early morning operation, a team of NDLEA officers acting on credible intelligence arrested one of Okparas couriers, 51-year-old Achebe Kenneth Nnamdi, while heading to Onitsha, Anambra State in a white Toyota Sienna vehicle.
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The agency’s sniffer dogs were subsequently brought in to search the vehicle after which 7.6 kilograms of cocaine and 900 grams of methamphetamine were found hidden in body compartments of the space bus.
A follow up operation was promptly carried out at Okparas hideout in Isheri where additional 1.8kg cocaine and 1.3kg methamphetamine were recovered from his residence.
