The Nationwide Drug Regulation Enforcement Company (NDLEA) has intercepted a number of consignments of illicit medication hidden in uncommon objects corresponding to frozen snails, electrical bulbs, and feminine garments.
The objects had been certain for the US, the UK, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by the Murtala Muhammed Worldwide Airport (MMIA) and a courier firm in Lagos.
The event was disclosed in an announcement signed by Femi Babafemi, Director of Media and Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja, on Sunday, October 19, 2025.
“Certainly one of them, a cargo agent, Boladale Riliwan, was arrested on seventh October 2025 following the invention of 15 parcels of skunk, a pressure of hashish, hid in 10 items of big rechargeable electrical bulbs he introduced in a carton for airfreight to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on the export shed of the Lagos airport.
“One other suspect in custody is 48-year-old Olawale Oyebola Hakeemot, who’s a UK-based Public Well being Assistant. She was arrested on Sunday, twelfth October on the departure corridor of Terminal 2 of the Murtala Muhammed Worldwide Airport, Ikeja, following the invention of frozen snails used to hide 2,300 drugs of tramadol 225mg in her baggage whereas heading to Manchester, United Kingdom, on a Qatar Airways flight.
“An try by one other syndicate to export 810 drugs of bromazepam hidden in feminine garments going to the US was additionally thwarted by NDLEA officers at a courier firm in Lagos on Thursday, sixteenth October,” they acknowledged
Illicit exports intercepted in Lagos
In accordance with NDLEA, one of many suspects, Boladale Riliwan, a cargo agent, was arrested on October 7, 2025, after he introduced 15 parcels of skunk hidden inside 10 big rechargeable electrical bulbs supposed for cargo to the DRC.
One other suspect, 48-year-old Olawale Oyebola Hakeemot, a UK-based Public Well being Assistant, was arrested on October 12, 2025, at Terminal 2 of the Murtala Muhammed Worldwide Airport, Ikeja. NDLEA officers found 2,300 tramadol drugs (225mg) hid inside frozen snails in her baggage whereas she was getting ready to board a Qatar Airways flight to Manchester, UK.
The company additionally reported that on October 16, 2025, NDLEA officers at a courier firm in Lagos foiled an try to export 810 bromazepam drugs hidden in feminine clothes certain for the US.
Drug seizures throughout Nigerian states
In Adamawa State, NDLEA operatives arrested Bello Buba at a checkpoint in Namtari, Yola South LGA, with 38,270 tramadol drugs hid within the spare tyre, boot, and door compartments of a Honda Civic. The medication had been reportedly smuggled from Benin Republic on October 12, 2025.
The company additionally destroyed 53,250 kilograms of skunk discovered on 21.3 hectares of hashish farmland in Ilawe Ekiti, Ekiti State, between October 12 and 13, 2025. Through the operation, NDLEA arrested Matthew Emmanuel (26), James Moses (27), and Israel Samuel (20). One other 17,400 kilograms of skunk had been destroyed in Aponmu forest reserve, Akure, Ondo State, on October 12, 2025.
In Oyo State, 4 suspects, Aliyu Muhammed (50), Babarinde Segun (32), Ogunbiyi Sanjo (30), and Ajani Oluro (30) had been arrested with 596kg of skunk at Apata-Ako, Igboora, whereas Jacob Afolabi (30) and Salako Oluwatobi (25) had been caught with 273kg at Odo-Oyan, Igangan, on October 16, 2025.
Equally, in Ogun State, Joseph Andrew was arrested with 88kg of skunk at Ona-Imeko on October 15, 2025, whereas Festus Udoh (42) was caught with 13,000 drugs of opioids alongside the Onitsha–Owerri highway, Imo State. NDLEA officers additionally recovered 74.5kg of skunk from Joseph Chukwujamaa’s retailer in Umuogbo-Agu village, Enugu State, on October 18, 2025.
In Lagos, operatives recovered 117kg of skunk from Ramoni Olukowi’s base in Mushin on October 18, 2025, and intercepted 80,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup from a container imported from India at Apapa Port on October 14, 2025, throughout a joint operation with the Nigeria Customs Service.
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