Nigeria seizes 518 bags of smuggled rice and arrests counterfeit drug syndicate

The Nigerian Navy ship NNS Beecroft, together with the Western Marine Command of the Nigeria Customs Service and the Navy Special Boat Service, intercepted four boats on July 31, 2026 in the Badagry waterways and seized 518 bags of parboiled rice concealed as smuggled cargo. The operation, based on actionable intelligence and supported by maritime surveillance technology, was described by Commodore Awiuyor Adams‑Aliu as a demonstration of inter‑agency collaboration against economic crimes.

In Lagos, the State Police Command arrested two suspects, Eze Okwudilichukwu and Chukwudi Mba, after a raid on a warehouse revealed a large stock of suspected adulterated pharmaceutical products, including Omeprazole, Viagra, Ampiclox and Septrin. The police recovered a truck loaded with hundreds of cartons and empty packaging used for repackaging counterfeit drugs, and indicated that the syndicate was distributing the products across Nigeria and to Lomé, Togo. Commissioner of Police Tijani Fatai said the investigation will continue to locate the manufacturing source and dismantle the network.