NDLEA Smashes Drug Rings, Intercepts Illicit Drugs Hidden in Snails, Bulbs, Clothes
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted consignments of illicit drugs concealed in frozen snails, electrical bulbs, and female clothes.
A statement on Sunday by the Agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said the shipments were destined for the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
He said the interceptions were made at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) and a courier company in Lagos.
Babafemi revealed that two suspects connected to the attempts had been taken into custody.
He identified one of them as Boladale Riliwan, a cargo agent arrested on October 7 after 15 parcels of skunk were found hidden in 10 giant rechargeable electrical bulbs prepared for shipment to the DRC.
He also said a 48-year-old UK-based Public Health Assistant, Olawale Oyebola Hakeemot, was arrested on October 12 at the departure hall of Terminal 2 of the MMIA, Ikeja.
According to the agency, operatives discovered 2,300 pills of Tramadol 225mg concealed in frozen snails inside her luggage while she attempted to board a Qatar Airways flight to Manchester, United Kingdom.
The statement added that NDLEA officers foiled another attempt by a syndicate to export 810 pills of bromazepam concealed in female clothes to the United States through a courier company in Lagos on 16 October.
Babafemi said that in Adamawa State, operatives arrested Bello Buba at an NDLEA checkpoint in Namtari, Yola South Local Government Area, with 38,270 pills of tramadol concealed in a spare tyre, boot, and door compartments of his Honda Civic. He noted that the suspect drove from Benin Republic to smuggle the drugs into Nigeria.
The NDLEA also reported the destruction of 53,250 kilograms of skunk grown on 21.3 hectares of cannabis farmland in Ilawe Ekiti, Ekiti State, between 12 and 13 October.
