Olawale Hakeemot, one of the drug courier suspects
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says its operatives intercepted multiple consignments of illicit drugs concealed in frozen snails, electric bulbs and female clothing at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos.
According to a statement on Sunday by Femi Babafemi, NDLEA spokesperson, the drugs were headed for the United States, United Kingdom and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Babafemi said at least two suspects were already in custody.
“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,” the statement reads.
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The spokesperson said another suspect, Olawale Oyebola Hakeemot, a 48-year-old UK-based public health assistant, was arrested on October 12 while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to Manchester.
He said NDLEA operatives found 2,300 tramadol 225mg pills concealed in frozen snails inside her luggage.
Babafemi said a separate syndicate’s plan to ship 810 bromazepam pills hidden in female clothes to the US was also foiled at a courier company in Lagos on October 16.
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He said in Adamawa state, operatives intercepted a suspect, Bello Buba, at an NDLEA checkpoint in Namtari, Yola South LGA, with 38,270 tramadol pills concealed in the spare tyre, boot and door compartments of his Honda Civic, after driving in from Benin Republic.
“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,” the statement added.
“Suspects arrested include: Matthew Emmanuel, 26; James Moses, 27; and Israel Samuel, 20.
“This followed the destruction of 17,400kg skunk on 6.96 hectares of plantation by NDLEA operatives at Aponmu forest reserve, Akure, Ondo state on Sunday 12th October.”
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Buba Marwa, NDLEA chairman, commended the officers for their diligence and consistency in drug control efforts.
“I urge our officers and men across the country not to relent in their ongoing balanced approach to drug control,” Marwa said.
