National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted several shipments of illegal drugs hidden in unusual items, including frozen snails, electrical bulbs, and female clothing, at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos.
Gatekeepers News reports that NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday, said the contraband was destined for United States, United Kingdom, and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). At least two suspects are already in custody.
The statement reads, “One of them, a cargo agent Boladale Riliwan, was arrested on 7th October 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 Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at the export shed of the Lagos airport.”
Another suspect, Olawale Oyebola Hakeemot, 48, a UK-based public health assistant, was apprehended on October 12 while trying to board a Qatar Airways flight to Manchester. NDLEA officers found 2,300 tramadol 225mg pills hidden inside frozen snails in her luggage.
In a separate case, a syndicate’s plan to send 810 bromazepam pills concealed in female clothing to the US was also thwarted at a Lagos courier company on October 16.
In Adamawa State, operatives intercepted Bello Buba at an NDLEA checkpoint in Namtari, Yola South LGA. He was found with 38,270 tramadol pills hidden in the spare tyre, boot, and door compartments of his Honda Civic after entering from Benin Republic.
The agency also reported large-scale destruction of cannabis farms. Babafemi said, “Not less than 53,250 kilograms of skunk were destroyed on 21.3 hectares of cannabis farm in Ilawe Ekiti, Ekiti state, with 70 bags of the same psychoactive substance weighing 1,140kg recovered by NDLEA operatives during an operation that lasted between Sunday 12th and Monday 13th October.” Arrests included Matthew Emmanuel, 26; James Moses, 27; and Israel Samuel, 20.
Earlier, 17,400kg of skunk on 6.96 hectares at Aponmu Forest Reserve, Akure, Ondo State, was destroyed by NDLEA on Sunday, October 12.
NDLEA Chairman Buba Marwa praised officers for their diligence. He said, “I urge our officers and men across the country not to relent in their ongoing balanced approach to drug control.”1
