An operator at the PTML Terminal of Tincan Island Port in Lagos was doing their job last weekend, checking a container that was officially listed as empty. Inside, they found 1,000 kilograms of cocaine. This was a significant discovery, valued at over $235 million, which is more than N338 billion. This is the largest single seizure of cocaine at Tincan Port in its history. It’s a big deal, similar to seizing the entire annual budget of several Nigerian states.
Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), the head of the NDLEA, reacted strongly. He didn’t just celebrate the find; he called for international help. The NDLEA’s press release is clear. Marwa directed that the agency’s main international partners get involved because of the global connections to the cocaine cartel.
This is not just talk. Officers from the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) are already in Nigeria to assist with the investigation.
This single move tells us exactly what the NDLEA is thinking.
- Why the DEA? The US agency is the world’s foremost expert on the South American cartels, which are the source of this Class A drug. (Class A is the UK’s classification for the most harmful drugs, including cocaine and heroin, carrying the harshest penalties).
- Why the NCA? The UK is one of the primary destinations. West Africa, and Nigeria in particular, has long been the world’s most lucrative “transit hub” for moving cocaine from Latin America into Europe.
Marwa’s goal isn’t just to arrest the Lagos-based clearing agent. His stated aim is to “get all the masterminds… brought to book wherever they are located across the globe.”
This is a hunt for the kingpins in South America, Europe, and Nigeria, all at once.
The “Rip-On/Rip-Off” Mystery
But the most fascinating part of this whole case is the “empty” container. How does N338 billion in cocaine end up in a box that’s not supposed to have anything in it?
This wasn’t a sophisticated job of hiding bricks in yam flour or car parts. The evidence points to a classic, high-stakes smuggling method known as “rip-on/rip-off.”
Here’s how it works:
- The “Rip-On”: At the port of origin (say, in Brazil or Ecuador), a corrupt insider team breaks the seal of a legitimate, empty container that’s part of a real shipment. They “rip on” the container, stuff it with the 1,000kg of cocaine, and put on a fake, cloned seal.
- The Transit: The container travels to Lagos, its manifest reading “empty.”
- The “Rip-Off”: A different team of corrupt port insiders in Lagos is supposed to intercept that specific container before it’s officially checked. They break the fake seal, “rip off” the drugs, and the “empty” container goes back into circulation, with no one the wiser.
But this time, the plan failed spectacularly.
The “rip-off” team in Lagos was either too slow, or the PTML operators were too fast and, crucially, too honest. The operators spotted the consignment and immediately alerted the NDLEA and Customs. The smugglers just lost their entire N338 billion investment.
A New “Unified Front”
There’s one more critical detail in the press release that’s easy to miss. The NDLEA makes a special point to highlight the “collaborative engagements” and “personal excellent engagement” between Marwa and the Comptroller General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi.
This is a big deal. For years, rivalries between Nigerian agencies at the ports have been a notorious weakness that cartels exploit.
This bust shows a new, unified front: an honest private terminal operator (PTML), a fully cooperating Customs, and an aggressive NDLEA working in lock-step with international partners.
This seizure is more than just a massive haul. It’s a sign that a major international cartel just had its entire “rip-off” logistics chain in Lagos compromised, and now, the DEA and NCA are here to help hunt down the rest of the network.
