The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has achieved another major success in the fight against international drug trafficking as it on March 14, intercepted 72 parcels of heroin cleverly disguised as chocolates at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano.
The illicit cargo was seized from a 42-year-old Indian national, Ms. Neetu Neetu, during the inward clearance of Qatar Airways Flight QR1431, which had arrived from Bangkok, Thailand, via Vietnam and Doha.
The operation was made possible by credible intelligence.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by Femi Babafemi, NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, the consignment, weighing 11kg, was seized from Neetu’s luggage after a search at the arrival hall of the airport.
Reacting to the arrest, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, retired Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa, highlighted a disturbing trend where drug cartels recruit foreign nationals, including white women, to smuggle illicit substances across Nigerian borders.
He said: “This growing tactic by drug trafficking organisations has consistently been frustrated by our vigilant officers with the aid of modern technological tools and proactive intelligence.”
In a separate operation in Kano, NDLEA operatives arrested 45-year-old Michael Ogundele on Thursday, seizing a 50-litre steel gas cylinder from him at Gadar Tamburawa, along the Zaria-Kano road.
Upon using welding tools to cut open the cylinder, officers found and extracted 50,000 pills of 225mg tramadol that had been hidden inside.
Also in Gunduwawa, Kano, a 40-year-old suspect, Sunday Ogar, was arrested on Wednesday with 27kg of skunk, a highly potent strain of cannabis.
A female suspect, Khadijah Abdullahi, 40, was also apprehended at Lungun Bulala Yalwa on Tuesday in possession of 424 bottles of codeine-based syrup.
Also in Lagos, NDLEA officers made a significant bust, arresting Olumuyiwa Kolawole and Samod Adisa in Mushin with 67.5kg of skunk, while also recovering an additional 100.8kg of the same potent substance from the store of two suspects who fled the scene in Anifowosh.
In another operation in Apapa on Tuesday, officers arrested Isah Idris, seizing 4.5kg of skunk, 600 grams of 225mg tramadol, and 30 litres of codeine syrup in his possession.
On the same day, Yahaya Mohamed was arrested in Ikotun with various quantities of cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine.
Part of the statement reads: Beyond enforcement, NDLEA formations across the country have intensified their War Against Drug Abuse advocacy, conducting sensitization programmes in schools, markets, workplaces, and religious centres.
“Recent activities include lectures at Chrisland School, Ikeja, Lagos; Hakimi Secondary School, Mokwa, Niger State; Marist Comprehensive College, Nteje, Anambra State; Ikole City College, Ikole Ekiti, Ekiti State; Government Day Secondary School, Sunane, Sokoto State; and Government Day Secondary School, Jada, Adamawa State.”
Marwa commended NDLEA officers in MAKIA, Lagos, and Kano Commands for their relentless efforts, emphasizing the agency’s dual focus on drug supply and demand reduction.
He said: “Our operatives must not relent in ensuring a balanced and sustained fight against drug abuse and trafficking nationwide.”
The agency has made significant strides in combating international drug trafficking, recently intercepting substantial quantities of illicit drugs destined for multiple countries, including the US, Saudi Arabia, Poland, Italy, and the UAE, in a series of successes reported by Persecondnews earlier this month.
The confiscated drugs, which included cocaine, tramadol, loud, and molly, were ingeniously concealed within seemingly ordinary items, such as prayer beads, board game packs, and women’s clothing.
Also, Mbala Abuba, a 42-year-old native of Zaire Province, Angola, was apprehended on Tuesday, February 25, 2025, at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano while trying to board an Egypt Air flight to Istanbul with cocaine.
After several hours of observation, the suspect ultimately expelled 120 pellets of cocaine, totaling 1.829 kilograms, through seven rounds of excretion.
Furthermore, a 24-year-old Thai lady, Ms. Pattaphi Wimonnat, who attempted to smuggle 43 parcels of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis weighing 46.60 kilograms, was arrested on Thursday, February 20, 2025.
The Loud was intercepted while being smuggled into Nigeria through the Murtigo Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Ikeja, Lagos.
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