Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have intercepted consignments of illicit drugs concealed in frozen snails, electrical bulbs, and female clothes bound for the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
A statement released on Sunday by the agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said the interceptions were made at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport and a courier company in Lagos.
Babafemi said two suspects have been arrested in connection with the seizures.
“One of them, a cargo agent Boladale Riliwan, was arrested on October 7, 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 the Democratic Republic of Congo at the export shed of the Lagos airport,” Babafemi added.
Babafemi said another suspect, a 48-year-old UK-based public health assistant, Olawale Hakeemot, was arrested on October 12 at the departure hall of Terminal 2 of the MMIA, Ikeja.
He said she was found with 2,300 pills of tramadol 225mg concealed in frozen snails while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to Manchester, United Kingdom.
“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,” he added.
In Adamawa State, Babafemi said operatives intercepted a suspect, Bello Buba, at an NDLEA checkpoint in Namtari, Yola South Local Government Area, with 38,270 pills of tramadol concealed in the spare tyre, boot, and door compartments of his Honda Civic.
He said the suspect allegedly drove from the Benin Republic to smuggle the drugs into Nigeria.
“A suspect, Bello Buba, was intercepted at an NDLEA checkpoint 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, October 12,” he said.
