In a dramatic operation that underscores the relentless war against drug trafficking in Nigeria, operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted a 42-year-old Indian woman, Ms. Neetu Neetu, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) with a staggering 72 parcels of heroin cleverly concealed in wafer wraps and deceptively packaged as chocolates.
A statement issued by NDLEA’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi on Sunday, said the illicit consignment, weighing a total of 11 kilogrammes, was uncovered during a meticulous search following intelligence-led surveillance.
Ms. Neetu, who arrived on a Qatar Airways flight QR1431 from Bangkok, Thailand, via Vietnam and Doha, was apprehended at the airport’s arrival hall on Friday, 14th March 2025.
Reacting to the high-profile arrest, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), revealed that drug syndicates were increasingly hiring foreign nationals, including white women, to smuggle hard drugs across Nigerian borders.
“This interception is a clear indication that traffickers are desperate and will go to any length to disguise their operations. However, our vigilant operatives, equipped with modern technology and intelligence, continue to thwart these dangerous schemes,” Marwa asserted.
Beyond the shocking heroin bust at MAKIA, NDLEA’s recent crackdown led to multiple high-profile drug seizures across the country.
In a separate operation in Kano on Thursday, 20th March, a 45-year-old suspect, Michael Ogundele, was caught transporting a 50-litre steel gas cylinder stuffed with an astonishing 50,000 pills of tramadol (225mg).
The suspect was nabbed at Gadar Tamburawa along the Zaria-Kano road following a coordinated intelligence operation. Officers had to cut open the cylinder using welding tools before the concealed drugs were extracted.
Meanwhile, another suspect, Sunday Ogar, 40, was arrested in Kano’s Gunduwawa area on Wednesday, 19th March, with 27 kilograms of skunk, a potent strain of cannabis.
In yet another breakthrough, a female suspect, Khadijah Abdullahi, 40, was apprehended on Tuesday, 18th March, with a staggering 424 bottles of codeine-based syrup in the Lungun Bulala Yalwa area of Kano.
In Lagos, the battle against drug cartels took an equally dramatic turn as NDLEA operatives swooped on the Mushin area, arresting Olumuyiwa Kolawole and Samod Adisa with 67.5 kilograms of skunk.
In a related raid, 100.8 kilogrammes of the same psychoactive substance were recovered from the store of two fleeing traffickers in Anifowoshe, Mushin.
Additionally, a suspect identified as Isah Idris was apprehended in Apapa on Tuesday, 18th March, with 4.5 kilograms of skunk, 600 grams of tramadol (225mg), and 30 litres of codeine syrup. The crackdown in Lagos also saw the arrest of Yahaya Mohamed in the Ikotun area with different quantities of cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine.
Commending the NDLEA officers for their relentless pursuit of drug syndicates, Marwa hailed their balanced approach to drug supply reduction and preventive education.
“We are not just taking the fight to traffickers but also ensuring that our youths and communities are educated on the dangers of drug abuse. This is a battle we must win,” he declared.