The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), has intercepted different consignments of illicit drugs concealed in frozen snails, electrical bulbs and female clothes bound for the United States, United Kingdom and Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Director, Media & Advocacy of the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, who disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, said operatives of the agency intercepted the drugs at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) and a courier company in Lagos, following intensive intelligence gathering.
Babafemi said two suspects linked with attempts to export the illicit substances have been arrested and have been taken into custody.
“One of the suspects, a cargo agent named Boladale Riliwan, was arrested on 7th October, 2025, following the discovery of 15 parcels of skunk, a strain of cannabis, concealed in 10 pieces of giant rechargeable electrical bulbs he presented in a carton for airfreight to Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at the export shed of the Lagos airport,” the NDLEA spokesman said.
“Another suspect in custody is 48-year-old Olawale Oyebola Hakeemot, who is a UK-based Public Health Assistant. She was arrested on Sunday, 12th October, at the departure hall of terminal 2 of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, following the discovery of frozen snails used to conceal 2,300 pills of tramadol 225mg in her luggage while heading to Manchester, United Kingdom, on a Qatar Airways flight.”
The statement said an attempt by another syndicate to export 810 pills of bromazepam hidden in female clothes going to the United States was also thwarted by NDLEA officers at a courier company in Lagos on Thursday, 16th October.
“In Adamawa, a suspect Bello Buba was intercepted at an NDLEA check point in Namtari, Yola South LGA with 38,270 pills of tramadol concealed in the spare tyre, boot, and door compartments of his Honda Civic car he drove all the way from Benin Republic to smuggle the consignment into Nigeria on Sunday, 12th October.
“Not less than 53,250 kilograms of skunk were destroyed on 21.3 hectares of cannabis farm in Ilawe Ekiti, Ekiti state, with 70 bags of the same psychoactive substance weighing 1,140kg recovered by NDLEA operatives during an operation that lasted between Sunday 12th and Monday, 13th October.
“Suspects arrested include: Matthew Emmanuel, 26; James Moses, 27; and Israel Samuel, 20. This followed the destruction of 17,400kg skunk on 6.96 hectares of plantation by NDLEA operatives at Aponmu forest reserve, Akure, Ondo state on Sunday, 12th October.
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