NDLEA Arrests Woman With 2.2kg Cocaine Hidden in Bag Walls at Lagos Airport

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 43-year-old make-up artist, Adekoya Adebukonla Mary, at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, for attempting to smuggle 2.2 kilograms of cocaine hidden in the walls of her luggage.

The suspect was intercepted on Monday, June 16, while trying to board a Qatar Airways flight to India via Doha. She had claimed she was travelling to India for fibroid surgery.

This was revealed in a statement on Sunday by the NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, who said the arrest followed credible intelligence.

“Two large parcels of cocaine weighing 2.20kg were discovered factory-fitted in the suitcase she was carrying,” Babafemi said. “She confessed to embarking on the trip for financial reasons while using the surgery as a cover.”

Further investigations revealed that Adekoya was allegedly recruited and sponsored by a wanted drug baron, Akeem Ayinde Adekanbi, said to own Rockford Hotel in Sango, Ogun State, and reside in the Igbe Laara area of Igbogbo, Ikorodu, Lagos.

In related operations, NDLEA operatives uncovered:

• 1.3kg of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, hidden in sewn female dresses bound for Bahrain via a Lagos courier company.
• 850g of cocaine concealed in cloth hangers destined for Australia.
• 1,013,000 opioid pills, including tramadol, diazepam, and exol-5, intercepted from two suspects along the Bauchi–Darazo road.
• 14.2kg of skunk and 198kg of rubber solution recovered from a suspect in Kaduna.
• 6.9kg of skunk and 59g of methamphetamine seized during raids in Abuja.
• 56.2kg of skunk and 23,720 tramadol capsules with 1,400 ampoules of pentazocine seized from multiple suspects along Zaria–Kano road.
• A 22-year-old Kwara State Polytechnic student, Olotin Nifemi, arrested in Ilorin for distributing skunk to other students.

In Edo State, NDLEA officers raided cannabis farms in Ugbada camp, Owan West LGA, destroying 4,226.11kg of skunk and arresting a suspect, Albert Shamaki. Further raids in Emado and Igueben communities led to arrests and seizures of drugs like Colorado, Loud, Molly, and Tramadol.

NDLEA Chairman/CEO Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) commended the agency’s commands in Lagos, Bauchi, Kaduna, Kano, Kwara, Edo, and the FCT for their successful operations.

He urged continued commitment to balancing drug supply suppression with demand reduction efforts across Nigeria.