Despite massive seizures, arrest of Nigerians and foreign nationals, prosecution and dismantling of clandestine methamphetamine laboratories linked to international criminal networks by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), among others, drug trafficking remains a major challenge in Nigeria.
From industrial-scale drug production to cocaine couriers and cross-border syndicates, the persistence of the illicit trade raises questions about the sophistication of criminal networks and the factors sustaining the business.
The growing drug problem has continued to impact negatively on the health and general wellbeing of many Nigerians, especially the youth population.
Many families and households note that they are going through a lot of trauma and pains in the management and rehabilitation of their children and loved ones who have become victims of drug addiction.
According to data from the NDLEA, over the last five years, a total of 96,157 suspects, including 250 drug barons, have been arrested; 15, 833, 856.3kgs of illicit drug seized with 2,099.96 hectares of cannabis farms destroyed. Within the same period, the agency secured 18,691 convictions while 54, 517 were counselled and rehabilitated.
Between January 2026 and September 2026 alone, data showed that 18,290 arrests have been made with illicit drug seizures of 698,488.76kgs while 81.69 hectares of cannabis farms have been destroyed across the country. Within the same period, a total of 2,568 convictions were recorded while 5,681 were counselled and rehabilitated.
The agency has also recorded the dismantling of four industrial meth laboratories across four states in recent months.
Besides the destructions of meth laboratories, international drug traffickers, including those from South Africa and other parts of the world, have also been arrested in recent months, with some already facing prosecution.
The agency also announced drug recoveries across several states, including Lagos, Kano, Bauchi, Niger, Edo, Ondo, Taraba, Oyo and Delta, anong others.
Notwithstanding the massive seizures, arrests, convictions and destruction of illicit drugs by the agency, the drug trafficking challenge remains potent, with experts saying that Nigeria is not just a transit route for illicit drug but also evolving as a production hub.
In this report, Weekend Trust examines some of the factors making Nigeria a drug trafficking destination and production hub, impacts on drug users and abusers, nexus between drug trafficking and insecurity, and the way forward.
Drug abuse leaves youths struggling with lost years and shattered dreams
For Usman Shuaibu (not real name), drug abuse has left scars that go beyond his health, robbing him off years of education, self-confidence and the opportunity to grow alongside his peers.
Today, he struggles to come to terms with the consequences of his past, particularly when he compares his life with those of friends and younger siblings who have moved ahead of him.
‘Drug abuse affected me significantly in ways I regret today. I can’t even measure up or stand where my friends are now. I feel inferior.
‘In terms of education, I am way behind, as even my younger siblings, both male and female, are far ahead of me.
‘However, I thank God that I am now okay and coming back to my senses, although I still take some of these intoxicants to calm myself sometimes,’ he said
For his mother, Raihanatu Musa, watching her son struggle with drug addiction was one of the most painful experiences of her life.
She described the ordeal as a test of faith, recalling how the situation almost tore the family apart in her determination not to abandon him to his fate.
‘It was a real test from God. That’s the way I see it. He is the third out of seven children I birthed, but he was, and still my darling child.
‘I cried my heart out countless times because of his situation. I couldn’t believe I was in that situation with him.
‘At a point, his father didn’t look his way and nearly disowned him. He only had shelter and feeding, and nothing more,’ she said.
Raihanatu said the situation became particularly heartbreaking whenever she encountered her son’s childhood friends and saw how much progress they had made, while hers remained trapped in addiction.
‘Whenever I went out and saw his friends becoming better by the day, I came back home crying and praying. Alhamdulillah, he is now better than he was five years ago,’ she noted.
She disclosed that her son had gradually picked up the pieces of his life, adding that she had even arranged a marriage for him in the hope that he would settle down and take greater responsibilities.
‘As you can see, I am even planning to marry him off. I got a wife for him, at least with the hope that he would become a better person. He now operates a provision shop; and, so far, it is fine,’ she added.
But while Usman’s experience reflects the possibility of recovery, another drug user, popularly known as Adebayo Akintunde, painted a troubling picture of youths who feel trapped in addiction and increasingly disconnected from the opportunities available to their peers.
He said the shame of meeting friends who had progressed in life had become a regular experience, but he remained uncertain if he would still turn his life around for better.
‘Honestly, I am ashamed of myself when I meet some of my friends. But that’s life. We can’t be on the same page,’ he said.
He disclosed that drug abuse had disrupted his education and affected his daily routine, to the extent that even when his father forced him to go to the market, he would return home and head straight to the place where his fellow users gathered.
‘I can’t go to places where normal people go to. I stopped school long time ago, and I am being forced to go to market by my father. Even at that, the moment I return home, I head straight to the jungle to meet my friends and take these things,’ he said.
Akintunde admitted that drug use had become deeply entrenched in their lives, expressing doubt if they would successfully overcome the habit.
‘It affects us seriously, but I don’t think we can get over it now. It has become part of our lives, although we are praying to stop.
‘The issue is: What do we do when we stop? Isn’t it late for us? We are already grown-ups,’ he said.
His remarks highlight another challenge confronting people struggling with substance abuse: the fear of starting life afresh after years lost to addiction, limited education and social isolation.
However, the experience of Iliyasu Muhammad (not his real name), who underwent rehabilitation, offers a contrasting account of what recovery and reintegration can achieve.
Muhammad said he once believed he would never overcome drug addiction, but credited rehabilitation, family support and personal determination for the transformation in his life.
‘I am a better person today. I thank God for that. And I thank my parents and siblings. I never thought I would get over drugs in my life,’ he said.
He described the rehabilitation programme of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency as effective, saying it helped him reclaim his life and pursue his education despite the years he had lost.
‘The NDLEA rehabilitation process is true and effective. Today, I am a graduate. Although my peers are far ahead of me, I am doing well today,’ he said.
Muhammad disclosed that he now owns a solar installation company, providing him with a means of livelihood and the opportunity to support his family.
‘Look at me, I now own a solar installation company and I am doing good for myself and my family. It was not easy. I suffered, but everyone is now proud of me,’ he said.
Having experienced addiction and recovery, he said he was now in a position to counsel other drug users and encourage them to seek help.
‘Let me not praise myself, but I can counsel drug users now on how to withdraw. I am not bragging, I am not proud of it at all,’ he added.
For the three men, the consequences of drug abuse are reflected in lost educational opportunities, strained family relationships, diminished self-worth and the difficult struggle to rebuild their lives.
While some remain uncertain about their ability to break free, the experience of those who have undergone rehabilitation suggests that recovery can offer a second chance, even after years of addiction.
Why drug trafficking persists, and why Nigeria is a hub
Meanwhile, experts have offered varied perspectives on why drug trafficking remains potent despite mass arrest, seizures and busting of drug trafficking cartels in the country.
An expert in security risk management, intelligence and national security solutions, Dr Kabir Adamu, said Nigeria was evolving from a transit route for illicit drugs into a major production, consumption and distribution centre, attributing the development to the growing sophistication of trafficking networks, rising local demand and outdated enforcement methods.
Adamu, who is the founder and Managing Director of Beacon Security and Intelligence Limited, said Nigeria’s drug trafficking problem had assumed a more complex dimension, with criminal networks expanding their activities beyond the movement of illicit substances across the country’s borders to include local production, consumption and international distribution.
According to him, intelligence and monitoring by his organisation indicate that the country is no longer merely a transit point for drugs destined for other markets but has become an increasingly important destination for international trafficking syndicates.
‘What we can say categorically based on our data set is that Nigeria is no longer just a transit hub, it has become a major production, consumption and distribution centre for illicit substances,’ he noted.
He explained that the transition was being driven partly by the ability of criminal enterprises to adapt more quickly than the country’s traditional law enforcement methods.
‘The criminal enterprises have outpaced our traditional enforcement methods,’ Adamu said, adding that the existence of a substantial local market had further strengthened Nigeria’s attraction to international drug trafficking organisations.
He said the country’s growing significance in the global drug trade was also reflected in the alleged involvement of foreign criminal networks in local drug production and distribution.
According to him, several South American cartels are collaborating with Nigerian drug trafficking networks, with such activities reported in parts of the South-South, South-West and South-East.
He said the emergence of clandestine methamphetamine laboratories allegedly operated by Mexican syndicates further highlighted the changing character of the drug trade in Nigeria.
Adamu said that rather than relying exclusively on transporting finished products into or through the country, criminal groups can establish local production facilities, exploit domestic distribution networks and potentially use Nigeria as a platform for supplying other markets.
He, however, said the challenge was not limited to foreign syndicates, stressing that the domestic market had become a major factor sustaining the trade.
‘There is high demand for drugs in Nigeria. That is why distribution and consumption have become a key feature of the Nigerian drug trade,’ he said.
He noted that the growing demand for illicit substances meant that traffickers could pursue multiple business models simultaneously, including importing drugs, manufacturing them locally and distributing them to consumers within Nigeria.
The security expert also identified the growing use of digital platforms as a significant development in the operations of trafficking networks.
He said some traffickers had moved away from conventional methods of arranging transactions in physical locations to using online platforms to advertise and distribute illicit substances.
‘The top point is where they now use digital hubs to disguise their distribution. You see them advertising and trafficking on the digital space, not in the physical space like they used to do,’ he said.
According to him, platforms such as Instagram and TikTok are now being exploited by drug peddlers to reach prospective customers, particularly young people, who may order illicit substances online and have them delivered.
This shift, he argued, made it more difficult for law enforcement agencies relying primarily on conventional surveillance and physical raids to identify the full extent of trafficking networks.
Adamu also drew attention to a change in the profile of people involved in drug trafficking, saying the activity was no longer dominated by younger people.
‘In the past, it used to be young people trafficking, but now, it is elderly people in their 70s and their 80s,’ he alleged.
‘Fight against illicit drugs must be proative’
The expert maintained that the NDLEA had made reasonable progress in combating the menace but needed to adopt more sophisticated methods capable of exposing the financial, logistical and technological infrastructure sustaining the illicit trade.
He said the persistence of trafficking despite repeated arrests and seizures suggested that enforcement efforts must target the wider criminal enterprises behind individual consignments.
Adamu called for a comprehensive national strategy combining supply reduction, public awareness, treatment and rehabilitation, alternative livelihoods and stricter regulation of online drug markets.
Speaking in the same vein, a narcotics expert and former Deputy Commander-General at the NDLEA, DCG Momodu Sule (retd), said Nigeria was no longer merely a transit point for illicit drugs but had also become a location for their production.
‘Nigeria is more than a transit hub for drugs. Nigeria is producing drugs,’ he said.
Sule argued that drug trafficking was a sophisticated and capital-intensive criminal enterprise that required a well-equipped and adequately funded agency to combat it effectively.
He blamed inadequate funding, poor operational equipment and weak implementation of government policies for the persistent drug trafficking and substance abuse problems in Nigeria.
Sule said the country’s response to drug trafficking remained largely reactive, arguing that the NDLEA needed better funding, improved welfare for its officers and modern technology to dismantle criminal networks.
He also called for the full implementation of government policies on drug education and testing in schools and other institutions, saying these measures could significantly reduce substance abuse.
The former NDLEA official said inadequate funding was limiting the agency’s capacity to gather intelligence, deploy informants, conduct surveillance and acquire the equipment needed to track drug traffickers.
He maintained that effective drug enforcement required officers to identify and monitor criminal networks before they moved illicit substances rather than relying mainly on checkpoints and roadside searches.
‘The way we fight, the way we address the problem of drugs in Nigeria today is still pedestrian. It is still more or less reactive,’ he said.
According to him, officers should be equipped to work with intelligence sources, monitor developments online and investigate suspected trafficking networks before making arrests.
He said the agency needed funds to pay informants, deploy personnel to areas where intelligence could be obtained and conduct undercover operations in locations where drug transactions might take place.
Sule cited nightclubs and other entertainment venues as examples of places where officers might need to gather intelligence by establishing contact with suspected drug dealers and their associates.
He said such operations required money, planning and resources that could not be sustained without adequate funding.
The former official illustrated the problem with the situation in Auchi, his hometown in Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State, where he said the NDLEA area command did not have a single operational vehicle when he spoke about the issue.
‘How do you address the drug problem in Auchi, Etsako West when you don’t have a single operational vehicle?’ he asked.
Sule urged the federal government to give the agency sufficient resources to acquire modern equipment, strengthen intelligence gathering and improve its operational reach.
He also called for better welfare for NDLEA personnel, warning that officers working against well-funded criminal networks needed adequate institutional support.
‘Security is the most expensive business you can do,’ he said, adding that investments in security were essential to development and prosperity.
Sule said drug traffickers were likely to target countries where they believed law enforcement agencies lacked the resources and technical capacity to detect and disrupt their activities.
He argued that strengthening the NDLEA’s capacity would make Nigeria less attractive to international drug syndicates.
‘If the NDLEA is well-equipped the way it is supposed to be and a criminal knows that if he comes to Nigeria, the NDLEA, no matter how long it takes, would catch him, they would not want to come here,’ he said.
He cited the United States as an example of a country where traffickers could eventually be apprehended because law enforcement agencies had the resources and technical expertise to pursue them.
Sule, however, acknowledged that the NDLEA had received greater support in recent years, but said more investment was needed to match the scale of the threat posed by drug trafficking.
For the Director of Media and Advocacy at the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, the pressures being mounted on international drug cartels by America is pushing them towards African countries, especially, Nigeria.
‘When you look at the case of drug cartels from Latin America, when the pressure was on them from the US, they tried to look elsewhere to establish a meth production line. And one of their targets was Africa. And when you talk of Africa, definitely, Nigeria is prominent.
‘They (drug cartels) have network globally. Nigeria is not an isolated country, it is connected to the world. So, whatever happens in the world has a way of trickling into our country, our own jurisdiction also.
‘But unfortunately for them, we were way ahead of their plots because we already knew that the moment the pressure was mounting on them from the US government, they were going to be looking for other targets where they would want to produce. And that was why, of all the four industrial-scale meth labs that were dismantled in Nigeria, none of them had pushed any product out because we were way ahead of them, getting set, prepared and processing our intelligence on their movements.
‘In one instance, especially the one in Ogun forest, we recovered substances worth over $360 million in the global market. Our joy is that we were able to dismantle them before they succeeded in pushing any of those things out into Nigerian communities or even into the international market,’ he disclosed.
Babafemi also identified socio-economic hardship, greed, weak deterrence, poor parenting and international criminal networks as some of the factors fuelling drug trafficking in Nigeria.
The agency also said the growing sophistication of drug cartels, coupled with the use of digital platforms and cryptocurrencies to facilitate illicit transactions, had made the fight against drug trafficking more complex.
He said the agency was expanding its approach beyond arrests and seizures to include intelligence-led operations, international cooperation, alternative livelihoods for cannabis growers, public awareness campaigns and treatment for people struggling with substance abuse.
Speaking on the continued use of drugs and narcotics despite almost daily reports of arrests and seizures, a lecturer at the Kwara State University, Dr Wasiu Kewulere, blamed weak accountability, political interference and the failure to sustain public reorientation for the persistence of the menace.
He questioned whether suspects arrested over drug-related offences were being adequately punished.
Kewulere argued that enforcement efforts would have limited deterrent effect if the public could not point to offenders who had faced consequences for their actions.
‘The question is whether ordinary citizens can point to anyone who has been adequately punished for these offences.
‘Year after year, we hear of arrests and seizures, but who can we point to as an example of someone who has been properly disciplined for such acts?’ he asked.
Kewulere said the perceived politicisation of criminal cases could further weaken public confidence in the justice system, particularly when people believed that influential connections could help offenders escape punishment.
Nexus between drug trafficking, terrorism and insecurity
Meanwhile, experts have established linkage between drug trafficking and insecurity.
Speaking on this aspect, Dr Adamu warned that drug trafficking could not be treated as an isolated criminal activity because the networks involved often operate across several areas of organised crime, including human trafficking, cybercrime and activities associated with terrorist groups.
He explained that transnational criminal organisations frequently diversified their operations, allowing them to exploit different illegal markets and establish relationships with other groups operating along the same routes.
‘Most transnational crime groups do several things at the same time. So, when one is engaged in one criminal activity, you find that they are also engaged in other crimes. If they are doing drug trafficking, they would also be involved sometimes in human trafficking and other times in cyber criminality,’ he alleged.
He said the relationship between drug trafficking syndicates and terrorist organisations was particularly concerning because both could benefit from overlapping transportation routes, financial channels and intelligence networks.
According to him, however, the relationship does not necessarily mean that every drug trafficker is a member of a terrorist organisation or shares its ideological objectives; rather, criminal networks can facilitate one another’s operations because of their common interests in moving illicit goods, transferring money, evading security agencies and maintaining access to established routes.
‘What is also more worrisome is the nexus between them and terrorist groups. Oftentimes, they share the same transit routes, the same international routes. So you see a nexus that exists between them, either supporting the movement of certain materials or even just supporting one another in the movement of money and the sharing of information that support the activity,’ he said.
Adamu cited groups associated with the Islamic State as examples of terrorist networks whose operating environments may overlap with those of transnational criminal organisations.
Way forward
To reverse the trend, experts have called on the NDLEA and other security agencies to modernise their operations by adopting intelligence-led strategies, deploying technology and strengthening cooperation across government institutions.
They also called for more awareness creation on the dangers of drugs in the society and enforcement of drug test policy in the country.
Speaking, the Head, Department of Sociology, University of Ilorin, Dr Salihu Zakariya Abdulbaqi, said the relevant authorities needed to create awareness and ensure that drug abuse was recognised as a serious social problem before seeking lasting solutions.
‘The respective authorities need to look for ways to prevent it. There is what we call preventive checks and one of the measures is to create awareness and define it as a problem before they can find a lasting solution to it,’ he said.
He said a lack of adequate awareness about the dangers of hard drugs could undermine efforts to tackle the menace.
‘Without proper awareness of how to problematise the issue of hard drugs, it will be difficult for the relevant authorities to find a lasting solution to the problem,’ he said.
The sociologist also emphasised the importance of family upbringing in preventing drug abuse, noting that efforts to address the problem must begin at the grassroots level.
‘Proper awareness and proper upbringing are important because it is something that starts from the smallest unit of the society, which is the family. Without them, it will be difficult for the relevant authorities to find a lasting solution to the menace because it is a social problem,’ he said.
On his part, Dr Kabir Adamu said the country’s drug control response must address the entire chain of the illicit trade, from production and transportation to financing, online marketing and local consumption.
‘The NDLEA and the entire Nigerian security architecture must move from traditional methods to more modern methods, embracing technology, embracing intelligence and embracing the human component,’ he said.
His first recommendation was for security agencies to prioritise the disruption of the financial and logistical networks that sustain trafficking syndicates.
While acknowledging that the NDLEA had made progress, he argued that occasional disruptions would not be sufficient to dismantle criminal enterprises with international connections.
‘What we see is occasional disruption. We must go after a full disruption of these financial and logistical hubs,’ he said.
He called for closer collaboration among the NDLEA, the Nigeria Immigration Service, the Nigeria Customs Service, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Office of the National Security Adviser.
Such cooperation, he said, would improve the ability of the authorities to trace proceeds of crime, identify the movement of illicit funds and expose the logistical arrangements that allow trafficking syndicates to operate across borders.
Adamu also urged the government to intensify efforts to dismantle industrial-scale trafficking organisations, particularly those allegedly working with foreign cartels.
Rather than focus primarily on couriers and individual suspects found with illicit substances, he said investigators should pursue the financiers, organisers and other high-level figures behind the operations.
He proposed a three-pronged national strategy built around supply reduction, demand reduction, and treatment and rehabilitation.
Supply reduction, he explained, would require stronger enforcement, more effective laws and sustained international cooperation to prevent the production and distribution of illicit substances.
Demand reduction, on the other hand, would involve public education and sensitisation programmes in schools, markets and through media platforms to discourage drug use and trafficking.
He said public awareness campaigns should explain the dangers associated with drug abuse while helping communities recognise and report suspicious activities.
Adamu also argued that the treatment of people struggling with drug addiction should be approached as a public health priority rather than solely through punishment.
He called for stronger collaboration among health authorities, security agencies and other relevant institutions to expand access to treatment and rehabilitation services.
Beyond enforcement, Babafemi said the agency had introduced an Alternative Development Programme designed to discourage illicit cannabis cultivation by providing farmers with legitimate and sustainable sources of income.
He described the initiative as a strategy for addressing the economic conditions that sustain illegal cultivation, rather than relying solely on raids and arrests.
The pilot programme was launched in January 2026 in three cannabis-growing communities in Ondo State: Eleyawo and Iluwabu in Akure North Local Government Area, and Ifon in Ose Local Government Area.
Babafemi said the initiative was helping participating farmers switch from cannabis cultivation to legitimate agricultural activities, including the production of tomatoes, cassava, maize and pepper, as well as fish farming and poultry.
Babafemi added that the programme was part of a broader shift towards addressing the underlying economic and social conditions that contribute to drug production.
The NDLEA spokesman also identified the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) initiative as a major component of the agency’s efforts to prevent drug use and trafficking.
He said the campaign, launched in June 2021, was designed to educate Nigerians about the dangers of substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking while encouraging communities to take ownership of prevention efforts.
On his part, DCG Momodu Sule called for the implementation of existing government policies designed to prevent substance abuse, particularly among young Nigerians.
He said policies had been introduced to promote drug education in primary and secondary schools, incorporate it into general studies programmes in universities and expand awareness in formal, non-formal and informal educational settings.
However, he questioned the extent to which the policies were being implemented.