… Nabs 22-year-old British ex-convict with large drug shipment at MMIA; intercepts fuel tanker, 3 vehicles with 3,047kg skunk in Niger State and 775 litres of codeine in Kano State…

Desperate attempt by a woman, Ihensekhien Miracle Obehi, who disguised herself with a hijab to export large consignments of cocaine concealed in her private part, stomach and false bottom was found out. The attempt to smuggle her handbag containing cocaine to Iran has been thwarted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Obehi, who was dressed in a hijab to beat security checks, was intercepted at the departure hall of the Port Harcourt airport on Sunday, 3rd May 2025, while trying to board a Qatar Airline flight to Iran via Doha following credible intelligence. During her search, she was found to have inserted three wraps of cocaine in her private part and two large parcels hidden in false compartments of her handbag, while she swallowed 67 pellets of the Class A drug.

As a result, she was placed under excretion observation and after four excretions that lasted days, she expelled the 67 wraps of the substance in her stomach. She claimed she was to swallow 70 pellets of cocaine, but after ingesting 67 pieces, she could no longer swallow the remaining three and decided to insert them into her private part. The total weight of the three consignments hidden in different parts of her body comes to 2.523 kilogrammes.

In like manner, NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja, Lagos, on Friday, 9th May, intercepted a 22-year-old British national, Campell Kaizra Kofi Johannes Slifer, coming from Thailand through Doha on a Qatar Airways flight with two suitcases loaded with 35 parcels of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis weighing 37.60kg. Campbell, who claimed he had twice been convicted in the UK for drug trafficking and robbery, said he was recruited in London to travel to Thailand to pick up the illicit consignment and bring same to Nigeria.

In Niger state, NDLEA officers acting on intelligence on Wednesday 7th May intercepted a fuel truck marked ABJ 693 XU and three other vehicles loaded with 246 bags of skunk, a strain of cannabis with a combined weight of 3,047 kilogrammes, along the Suleja-Kaduna road. Four suspects arrested with the exhibits include: Christopher Onyema, 47; Benedict Etineruba Young, 54; Chukwudi Ujue Jerry, 30; and Mohammed Abdullahi Danasabe. Apart from the fuel truck, three other vehicles recovered from the suspects include: a Honda Odyssey bus marked YAB 667 CZ; a Gulf bus with registration number GWA 125 TQ; and a Honda Odyssey bus marked ABJ 230 CN.

At Oja Amukoko in Ijora area of Lagos, two suspects: Eze Chekube Emmanuel and Ike Samuel Chinyerem were arrested on Thursday, 8th May, by NDLEA operatives, with a total of 109,914 pills of tramadol, swinol and nitrazepam were seized from them. While a 52.5kg skunk was recovered from two suspects: Lukman Sabo Umar, 23, and Tukur Ammadu, 20, in a bus at Gwantu, Sanga LGA, Kaduna State on Tuesday, 6th May, NDLEA operatives on patrol along Bode Saadu- Jebba expressway, Kwara State on Monday, 5th May arrested Rufai Nasiru with 45,400 pills of tramadol 225mg.

In Bauchi state, NDLEA officers on patrol along Bauchi-Gombe road on Tuesday, 6th May intercepted a Toyota Tundra jeep marked RBC 111 DW conveying 526 blocks of skunk weighing 505kg with two suspects: Isaac Onogure, 37 and Ikechukwu Peter, 44, arrested. A total of 31 kegs containing 775 litres of codeine syrup were recovered from two suspects: Hafizu Isa Uman, 34, and Ismail Shehu, 48, when NDLEA operatives raided their hideout at Rijiyar Zaki area of Kano on Saturday, 10th May, while 1.1kg of Loud consignment was concealed in pillow coming from Thailand was on Tuesday 6th May intercepted by NDLEA officers at a courier company in Lagos.

The War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, social advocacy activities by NDLEA Commands equally continued across the country in the past week. Some of them include WADA sensitization lecture delivered to students and staff of Federal Government College, Sokoto; Deeper Life International College, Nteje, Anambra; Martins Sanda Girls Science College, Paikoro, Niger state; Restoration Power International School, Idua Eket, Akwa Ibom; while Oyo state command delivered WADA enlightenment lecture to members of the League of Imams and Alfas at Iseyin Central Mosque, Iseyin, among others.

While commending the officers and men of DOGI, MMIA, PHIA, Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Bauchi, Kwara, and Niger Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures of the past week, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) equally praised their counterparts in all the commands across the country for pursuing a fair balance between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.