Troops of the Quick Reaction Group (QRG) deployed in Abaji have arrested a suspected drug trafficker and recovered 235 kilogrammes of suspected cannabis sativa along the Lokoja-Abuja Highway.

Military sources said the arrest was made during a routine snap check conducted at about 7:50 p.m. on June 22, 2026.

According to the sourc, troops intercepted a white Toyota Avalon XLS with registration number BNG-326BN, registered in Kaduna State, which was travelling from Okitipupa in Ondo State to Abuja.

A thorough search of the vehicle led to the discovery of 273 compressed packets of suspected cannabis sativa weighing approximately 235 kilogrammes.

The driver of the vehicle, identified as Ayodeji John, 30, was immediately arrested by the troops.

Preliminary investigations reportedly established the suspect’s involvement in the transportation of the illicit consignment.

The suspect and the recovered drugs were subsequently handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on June 23 for further investigation and possible prosecution.

Military authorities said the operation underscored the vigilance and professionalism of troops in ongoing efforts to combat drug trafficking and other criminal activities across the country.

They added that the successful interception had further denied criminal elements freedom of action while contributing to national security efforts aimed at curbing the movement of illicit substances.

No casualties or security breaches were recorded during the operation.

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The Justice Department has announced criminal charges against 455 individuals following a two-week nationwide crackdown on healthcare fraud, uncovering schemes involving over $6.5 billion in false claims from insurers.

The crackdown, which spanned 45 US states and territories, was announced on Tuesday, June 23, by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who called it “the greatest combined federal and state effort combating health care fraud in history.”

A nurse in Texas was charged with billing Medicare for $1 million for each patient to whom she applied unnecessary tissue grafts, the feds alleged.

Marizel Yukee, 49, of Las Vegas, was charged with fraudulently billing $906 million in claims for which she was paid $297 million.

Marizel Yukee

She allegedly funneled the stolen funds to buy posh cars, real estate, jewelry, and even built a $4.6 million beach resort in the Philippines, prosecutors claimed.

The $865,000 custom Bulgari necklace.

When she was arrested, the feds seized $30 million from her bank accounts, $467,000 in cash, a $594,000 Ferrari 296 GTS, seven other luxury vehicles, an $865,000 custom Bulgari necklace, and another million worth of jewelry, officials claimed.

Marizel Yukee and and her husband Rodelson Yukee shopping at David Yurman in Las Vegas.

Separately, three Florida nurses were busted for a $118 million tissue graft scheme. Leigh Tesar allegedly spent $215,000 on a luxury box suite at the Raymond James Stadium, where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers play, according to a criminal indictment.

She also allegedly spent $400,000 on fine art, according to the court papers.

The vice president of sales at a company that sold bioengineered skin substitutes allegedly carried out an illegal kickback scheme from 2021 to 2024, paying medical providers to push their product, prosecutors claim.

Brian Rowan, 47, of Las Vegas, made over $24 million at the company and bought multimillion-dollar homes, million-dollar life insurance policies, and high-end watches and cars, including a $135,000 Maserati, the feds alleged.

Medical sales vice president Brian Rowan allegedly spent the stolen cash on a Ferrari 488 Spider convertible.

The Arizona-based company was peddling amniotic wound grafts, which it purchased from tissue banks and then sold at a 2,000% markup — or $1,450 per square centimeter, the feds said, which comes out to $224.75 per square inch.

Rowan and other execs used 40% of their profits to pay out kickbacks, officials alleged.

The scheme targeted hospice patients for the skin grafts, which would be applied without the consultation of their doctors, without protecting against infections, and sometimes applying them to superficial wounds that didn’t require the grafts or to larger areas than needed, prosecutors claimed.

In total, he and his co-conspirators billed $1.2 billion for unnecessary allografts and were ultimately paid $614 million, the feds allege.

Two others, Jeffrey King and Alexandra Gehrke, have previously been sentenced to 15.5 years and 14 years, respectively, behind bars for their roles in this scheme, which netted them $97 million in cash, $21 million in life insurance policies, and four luxury cars, including a Ferrari 488 Spider convertible and three top-end Mercedes vehicles, the feds alleged.

One alleged fraudster in Illinois billed Medicaid for behavioral health services for hundreds of hours a day — despite the fact he didn’t have enough staff to justify it, the feds alleged.

Daniel Robinson, 51, of Palos Park, Illinois, allegedly billed for $67 million for counseling and therapy services that wouldn’t have been realistic even if all of the providers at his company, ODA Solutions Inc., worked 24 hours a day, according to a complaint.

Daniel Robinson,

His total claims were $92 million, and he received $75 million, according to the docs.

The money was diverted toward $44 million in investment accounts, $10 million to open a luxury car dealership, $4 million to buy real estate and fund home renovations, court papers allege.

Robinson’s 2020 Bentley Continental GT V8.

He also allegedly owned a yacht named Butt Nekkid that was docked in Chicago, court papers show.

Robinson’s boat, the Butt Nekkid.

A Texas doctor allegedly carried out an $89 million medical fraud scheme that ended with a student athlete’s death, the feds alleged.

Dr. Jason Finkelstein, 53, of Fort Worth, Texas, allegedly tested the hearts of student athletes at campuses around the country, submitting $89 million in claims under his two companies, Cardiovascular Testing Services PA and Cardiovascular Healthcare Associates PA, the feds claimed.

Yet Finkelstein made up bogus conditions to justify the cardiac testing of the students and signed off on the results after only reviewing them for seconds, prosecutors claimed.

In October 2024, he allegedly claimed one student’s results were “normal” even though the tests showed the student potentially had heart problems.

The student died 24 days later of cardiac arrest during practice with his basketball team, the feds alleged.

Even after Finkelstein was told of the student’s death, he continued to rubber-stamp test results, prosecutors claimed.

A Florida man allegedly ran two bogus medical supply companies and fraudulently billed Medicaid and Medicare for $3.76 billion, court papers allege.

Ibrahim Hilmi, 58, of Miami, billed for medical equipment and wound dressing that his companies, ABRH Car Inc. and Sunshine Senior Solutions LLC, never provided, court papers alleged.

Ibrahim Hilmi arrives in South Florida after being busted for an alleged $3.76 billion fraud scheme.

Most of the money he billed for was never paid to him, but he did receive $5.7 million in his companies’ accounts, according to a criminal indictment.

And within weeks, that money was transferred to Hong Kong and Indonesia, the court papers allege.

When Hilmi started getting negative reviews accusing him of health care fraud, he fled the country and kept the racket going by getting others to run his business accounts, the indictment alleges.

He was arrested in Kyrenia, Cyprus, and brought to Florida for his first court appearance in the case Monday, prosecutors said.

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Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have discovered a fortified, industrial-scale clandestine methamphetamine laboratory operated by a Nigerian-Mexican cartel deep within the forest of Tapa Village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area, Oyo State.

The discovery comes barely four weeks after the Agency dismantled a similar massive meth laboratory in a forest in Ijebu East, Ogun State, signaling a desperate attempt by drug barons to turn the Southwest axis into a synthetic drug manufacturing hub.

Speaking on the development, NDLEA chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) commended the gallantry, dedication, and clinical professionalism of the officers involved in the operation.

“On Wednesday, 17th June 2026, tactical operatives of the NDLEA stormed a highly fortified, industrial-scale clandestine methamphetamine laboratory operating deep within the forest of Tapa Village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area, Oyo State.

This was not a rudimentary setup; it was a sophisticated, highly organized transnational syndicate. During the raid, our operatives successfully arrested five key members of the cartel on-site. They include a 56-year-old Mexican Methamphetamine expert, Jose Villa Ochoa, brought in specifically to provide the technical expertise for large-scale synthesis and four Nigerian collaborators providing logistical support, cover, and local operations. They are: Maxwell Uche Nevoh, 30; Olatunji Yusuf, 37; Bankole Akeem Owolabi, 45; and ⁠Ganiu Monsiu, 43.

The arrest of a foreign cartel specialist on Nigerian soil underscores the transnational nature of this threat, but more importantly, it underscores our Agency’s world-class intelligence capability to track, intercept, and neutralize them. Following the successful raid, a specialized team from our Directorate of Forensic and Chemical Monitoring moved in on June 18th, 2026, to conduct a rigorous forensic examination of the facility. What they uncovered is a massive, factory-level production line of poison.

The laboratory was fully stocked with a frightening array of precursor chemicals, industrial catalysts, and heavy-duty processing equipment. Chemicals and Materials recovered include: Phenyl-2-propanone (P2P), which is the main, highly controlled precursor required for methamphetamine synthesis; 1800-litre drums containing Phenylacetic acid (the primary precursor used to synthesize P2P); Two 180L drums containing a staggering 300 litres of whitish crystalline substance; Four 180L drums containing dark liquid undergoing synthesis.

Marwa mentioned that others items recovered from the scene include 101 bags (25kg each) of Caustic Soda; 17 containers (25L each) of Sulphuric Acid; 19.5 containers (25kg each) of Tartaric Acid; 5 containers of Reniso Ultracool 68 (three 50L and two 25L capacity; 25 bottles (500ml each) of 80% Thioglycolic Acid; 2 containers (25L each) of Ethyl Phenylacetate, and 25 cartons of aluminum foil.

“The Industrial Processing Equipment discovered at the site include: One (1) Reactor Pot, which is the heart of the chemical synthesis; Two (2) mounted distillation units and three (3) fabricated mixers and condensers; as well as Two (2) vegetable dehydrator machines used for the rapid drying of the crystals.

As a result, immediate field tests were conducted by our forensic experts. Samples of the finished crystals recovered yielded a definitive positive result for Methamphetamine. Furthermore, the crystalline substance from the 180L drum tested positive for Phenylacetic acid. Every single gram of these exhibits has been safely evacuated, documented, and preserved for comprehensive and strict evidential presentation in court. This is yet another multibillion-naira worth of illicit substances and production equipment ready to push millions of doses of synthetic drugs into our streets, communities and the international community but for the vigilance of our dedicated officers.”

Marwa noted that the proximity of the latest discovery to the Ogun State lab uncovered about four weeks ago reveals a desperate attempt by drug barons to establish a synthetic drug manufacturing hub in the Southwest axis, adding that the cartels thought hiding in dense forests would shield them from the long arm of the law but were wrong.

“Let the message go out clearly to all drug cartels, domestic and international that Nigeria is not, and will never be, a safe haven for your illicit trade. We will find you in the cities, we will track you into the forests, and we will dismantle your infrastructure of death. They thought hiding in dense forests would shield them from the long arm of the law. They were wrong”, the NDLEA boss warned.

We want to commend the gallantry, dedication, and clinical professionalism of our officers of the Oyo state Command involved in this operation. To the Nigerian public, we say thank you for your continued trust and credible information. Together, we are securing the future of our nation”, he added.

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