Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a UK-based public health assistant at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos for attempting to smuggle hard drugs concealed in frozen snails.
The NDLEA said the suspect, 48-year-old Olawale Oyebola Hakeemot, was intercepted on Sunday, October 12, 2025, while boarding a Qatar Airways flight to Manchester, United Kingdom.
According to NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, the suspect was caught after operatives discovered 2,300 pills of Tramadol 225mg neatly hidden inside frozen snails packed in her luggage.
Babafemi said the arrest was part of a series of coordinated anti-narcotics operations that uncovered several international smuggling attempts through the Lagos airport and courier services.
He revealed that another suspect, cargo agent Boladale Riliwan, was arrested earlier on October 7 for attempting to export 15 parcels of skunk concealed inside 10 giant rechargeable electrical bulbs to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In a separate operation on October 16, NDLEA officers foiled an attempt to export 810 pills of bromazepam hidden in women’s clothes destined for the United States through a Lagos-based courier company.
The agency also reported multiple arrests and seizures across several states.
In Adamawa, a suspect identified as Bello Buba was caught at an NDLEA checkpoint in Namtari, Yola South, with 38,270 pills of tramadol hidden in the spare tyre and door compartments of his car.
Babafemi said Buba smuggled the drugs from the Benin Republic.
In Ekiti State, operatives destroyed 53,250 kilograms of skunk grown on 21.3 hectares of farmland in Ilawe-Ekiti, recovering another 1,140kg during the operation.
Arrested suspects include Matthew Emmanuel (26), James Moses (27), and Israel Samuel (20).
The NDLEA also destroyed 17,400kg of skunk at Aponmu Forest Reserve in Ondo State.
In Oyo State, the agency arrested four suspects with 596kg of skunk in Igboora, while two others were caught with 273kg in Igangan.
Another suspect, Joseph Andrew, was found with 88kg in Ogun State, and Festus Udoh (42) was arrested with 13,000 opioid pills along the Onitsha–Owerri Road in Imo State.
In Enugu State, NDLEA operatives recovered 74.5kg of skunk from a store owned by Joseph Chukwujamaa in Umuogbo-Agu Village, while in Lagos, officers seized 117kg of the same drug from the base of Ramoni Olukowi in Mushin.
Babafemi added that NDLEA operatives at Apapa Port intercepted a container from India containing 80,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup.
The seizure followed a joint inspection involving the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies on October 14.
The NDLEA said the latest arrests highlight the agency’s renewed focus on dismantling international drug trafficking networks using creative smuggling methods.
