How NDLEA Arrested Drug Baron Behind N3bn Tramadol Deal Linked To Kyari

Abiola Olawale
Writer
How NDLEA Arrested Drug Baron Behind N3bn Tramadol Deal Linked To Kyari

Ad

Sanae Takaichi Shatters Glass Ceiling, Becomes Japan’s First Female Prime Minister

By Abiola Olawale ​Sanae Takaichi officially made history on Tuesday, October 21, 2025, by being elected as Japan's first female prime minister following a parliamentary vote. Takaichi, an ultraconservative leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) secured the top post after a coalition deal with the right-wing Japan Innovation Party (Ishin no Kai). The 64-year-old…

PDP To Know Fate on Oct 31 as Court Delivers Judgment on National Convention

By Abiola Olawale The political landscape of Nigeria's main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), remains suspended in uncertainty as the Federal High Court in Abuja has set October 31 as the date for judgment in the contentious suit challenging the party’s planned national convention. ​The high-stakes ruling, which follows the conclusion of legal…

Brent Flirts With $60 as Oversupply Fears Deepen

Oil prices continued to inch lower in early Tuesday trading as concerns about oversupply and sagging demand resumed their grip on the market, even as trade-talks between the United States and China offered a glimmer of optimism. At the time of writing, WTI was down 0.52% at $57.22, while Brent had fallen 0.54% to $60.61.…

Ad

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), on Monday has announced the arrest of Chief Afam Mallinson Emmanuel Ukatu, a suspected billionaire drug baron behind a⁷we N3billion Tramadol deal allegedly involving the embattled police cop, Abba Kyari.

Ukatu, who is Chairman of Mallinson Group of Companies, was arrested onboard a flight to Abuja at the MM2 terminal of the Lagos airport, Ikeja on Wednesday 13th April.

The agency, in a statement issued by its NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi said Ukatu’s arrest was made possible after months of surveillance.

Babafemi said Ukatu came under the radar of the NDLEA after five cartons of Tramadol 225mg were seized from his staff on 4th May 2021, when he sent them to sell to undercover police officers (unknown to Ukatu) from the then Kyari-led IRT of the Nigeria Police, Ikeja Lagos.

According to the statement, Kyari’s men further arrested Ukatu’s staff, identified as Enidom and Sunday Ibekwete, and led them to a warehouse in Ojota in Lagos where 197 additional Cartons of Tramadol 225mg were seized by the IRT Team.

Babafemi added that though Kyari’s men arrested the suspects and recovered a total of 197 cartons from the warehouse, they only transferred only 12 Cartons of the Tramadol with one truck and a suspect to the Lagos Command of the NDLEA.

The statement read: “This is in addition to operating 103 bank accounts, most of which are used to launder money.

“Ukatu came under watch last year after five cartons of Tramadol 225mg were seized from his staff on 4th May 2021 when he sent them to sell to undercover p1olice officers (unknown to Ukatu) from the then Kyari-led IRT of the Nigeria Police, Ikeja Lagos. The price of a carton of Tramadol was negotiated at N17million each as against the then black market value that ranged between N18million and N20million a carton in Lagos.

“After the arrest of Ukatu’s staff: Pius Enidom and Sunday Ibekwete, Kyari’s men were then led by the suspects to Mallinson’s warehouse at Ojota in Lagos where 197 additional Cartons of Tramadol 225mg were seized by the IRT Team. The monetary value of the 202 cartons of Tramadol seized from Mallinson in one day was over N3billion.

“Three weeks after the seizure, the Kyari’s IRT team transferred only 12 Cartons of the Tramadol with one truck and a suspect to the Lagos Command of the NDLEA, leaving 190 cartons unaccounted for.

“After over eight months of following the lead, anti-narcotic officers of the Agency eventually arrested Ukatu at the Lagos airport on 13th April 2022. Kyari and four top members of his team are already facing trial for a different but similar offence at a Federal High Court in Abuja.”

Ad

X whatsapp