The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has thwarted multiple attempts to smuggle illicit drugs to the United States, Saudi Arabia, Poland, Italy, and the United Arab Emirates.
A statement on Sunday by the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, disclosed that the intercepted substances —including cocaine, tramadol, loud, and molly— were cleverly concealed in items such as prayer beads, board game packs, and female clothing.
He said, “Desperate bids by some drug trafficking organisations to move illicit consignments such as cocaine, tramadol, loud, molly and others concealed in prayer beads, packs of board games, female cloths to the United States of America, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Poland, and the United Arab Emirates through logistics firms and the Lagos airport have been thwarted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.
“At least, two suspects behind some of the aborted missions at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos have already been arrested. One of them is a 43-year-old businesswoman, Jakpor Egware May, who was nabbed at the Gate ‘C’ departure hall of the Lagos airport while attempting to board an Air France flight to Italy on Saturday, March 8, 2025.
“When she was searched, 190 parcels of tramadol 225mg and another parcel of skunk, a strain of cannabis, were recovered from her luggage. In her statement, she claimed that she bought the drugs herself, to resell them in Italy.”
At the export shed of the Lagos airport, Babafemi also said the NDLEA officers on Tuesday, March 11, arrested a 60-year-old suspect, Yahaya Ayinla, while attempting to ship a cargo containing clothes used to conceal 400 grams of skunk going to New York, United States of America.
“At some logistics companies in Lagos, efforts by drug traffickers to export over two kilograms of loud, molly, tramadol 365mg, 225mg hidden in Vitamin C bottles and female cloths to the US were frustrated by the NDLEA operatives of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation.
“Other shipments of 230 grams of cocaine concealed in prayer beads, soles of locally made shoes and packs,” Babafemi added.
In a separate operation in Kano, the NDLEA operatives arrested 40-year-old Hassan Haruna at Chalawa and recovered 727 blocks of compressed skunk weighing 479 kilograms.
In Kogi State, officers intercepted 58,300 pills of tramadol along the Kabba-Obajana highway in a commercial bus travelling from Lagos to Abuja.
“In Taraba State, the NDLEA officers on Friday, March 14, arrested Polycarp Adeku, 35, at Bente road, Kurmi LGA, with 15.77Kg skunk, while in Osun State. Operatives on Thursday, March 13, intercepted a commercial bus marked SGB 564 YS coming from Idumota, Lagos Island in front of King University, Ode-Omu, with a total of 48.7kg Ghanaian Loud, Colorado and Canadian Loud, all strains of cannabis. Not less than nine suspects have been arrested in connection with the seizure in Osogbo and Ile-Ife during follow-up operations.”
