ABUJA — Nigerian drug enforcement agents have intercepted a shipment of cocaine concealed in religious books bound for Saudi Arabia and arrested a suspected drug mule with narcotics strapped to his private parts, according to a statement released Sunday by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
The cocaine, weighing 500 grams and buried in the pages of 20 books, was seized at a courier firm in Lagos on Tuesday, April 15, by NDLEA officers attached to the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation.
“Officers of the agency uncovered the consignment during a routine inspection of outbound cargo,” NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi said in the statement. “The drugs were expertly hidden but not beyond the reach of our trained personnel.”
In a separate operation the same day, officers intercepted 2.8 kilograms of Loud, a potent cannabis strain, concealed in a package from the United States at another Lagos courier service.
The agency also reported the arrest of a 22-year-old man allegedly supplying drugs to bandits in northern Nigeria. Muhammad Mohammed was caught on Sunday, April 13, along the Bichi-Kano road with 277 ampoules of pentazocine injections strapped to his thighs and private area using Sellotape.
Another suspect, 43-year-old Mohammed Abdulrahman Abdulaziz, was arrested the same day in Kano with 68 blocks of cannabis weighing 30 kilograms.
In Bayelsa State, operatives raided a residential building in Yenagoa on Wednesday, April 16, where they seized 557.2 kilograms of cannabis, 5.6 kilograms of methamphetamine, and 29.8 grams of heroin. Four suspects were arrested during the operation.
Additional seizures included:
1,100 kilograms of cannabis from a van in Surulere, Lagos (April 17)
31,950 pills of tramadol and diazepam from a hideout in Zaria, Kaduna (April 18)
97 kilograms of cannabis hidden in charcoal sacks in Kebbi (April 18)
11.5 kilograms of cannabis in Anambra and 43 liters of skushi, a local opioid mixture, in Osun
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives destroyed two cannabis farms spanning nearly 1.5 hectares in Edo State’s Egbeta forest, seizing an additional 136.5 kilograms of processed weed.
At Lagos’ Tincan Seaport, authorities arrested Basorun Usman Kayode, 40, a suspect in a 2023 drug shipment from Canada. Another suspect, Dauda Yakubu, accused of distributing narcotics around the port, was also taken into custody on April 14.
The agency’s WADA (War Against Drug Abuse) campaign also continued across schools and markets in Lagos, Ekiti, Niger, Osun, Cross River, and Anambra states.
NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd.) praised the agency’s officers for their “balanced approach” to both drug supply reduction and public education efforts.
“These arrests and seizures underscore the agency’s resolve to disrupt drug trafficking networks while sensitizing communities,” Marwa said in the statement.
