Seizures include cocaine disguised as plantains, hidden in herbal drink cartons, and hundreds of kilograms of cannabis as NDLEA widens nationwide crackdown.
By Heapnews
Nigeria’s anti-narcotics agency said on Sunday it had arrested a 67-year-old Nigerian-British grandmother and a Malaysian-based doctoral student in separate operations that uncovered cocaine concealed in fake plantains and herbal drink cartons, as authorities stepped up a nationwide crackdown on drug trafficking networks.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said the elderly suspect, Mary Yetunde Barek, was arrested at the departure hall of Terminal 2 of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos while attempting to board a Virgin Atlantic flight to London on June 28.
NDLEA said officers recovered 31 packages of cocaine weighing 13 kilograms that had been moulded and wrapped to resemble fresh plantain hands before being packed among food items in her luggage. Barek, who works as a caregiver in Britain, admitted ownership of the drugs during questioning, the agency said.
In a separate operation, the agency said it arrested Nwabueze Felix Onyeka, a 45-year-old PhD student at the University of Putra, Malaysia, in Anambra State after tracing a shipment of cocaine concealed inside the walls of nine cartons of Orijin herbal alcoholic drink destined for Kuala Lumpur.
The consignment, weighing 5.8 kilograms, was intercepted before export, prompting an investigation that led to the arrest of four other suspects in Lagos, including a cargo agent, a driver, a trader and an alleged accomplice who supplied the cartons used to hide the drugs.
NDLEA said investigators later tracked Onyeka to his hometown of Aziora in Ozubulu, Anambra State, where he was arrested and identified as the alleged leader of the trafficking syndicate.
The agency also announced several other seizures across the country over the past week.
In Taraba State, officers arrested a 30-year-old suspect, Daniel Harrison Ugwuoke, after discovering 43,980 capsules of tramadol concealed inside two vehicle fuel tanks along the Wukari-Zaki Biam road.
In Kaduna State, two men aged 65 and 50 were arrested with 1.7 kilograms of methamphetamine during a raid in Gwantu.
In Ebonyi State, a 65-year-old suspect was apprehended with 231.7 kilograms of cannabis, while in Plateau State officers arrested a 75-year-old man found with 15 kilograms of cannabis.
Separately, in Gombe State, NDLEA said it arrested two suspects after recovering 587 blocks of cannabis weighing 556 kilograms at Kuri village in Yamaltu-Deba Local Government Area.
The agency said its enforcement operations were complemented by anti-drug awareness campaigns conducted in schools and communities across several states under its War Against Drug Abuse initiative.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended officers involved in the operations and urged personnel nationwide to sustain efforts aimed at disrupting drug trafficking while expanding public awareness campaigns.