Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have arrested a woman identified as Ihensekhien Obehi at the Port Harcourt International Airport for attempting to smuggle cocaine to Iran using multiple concealment methods.
Obehi, who was dressed in a hijab, was apprehended on Sunday, May 3, 2025, while trying to board a Qatar Airways flight to Iran via Doha. According to the NDLEA, she had concealed the illegal substance in her body, handbag, and digestive system.
NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, revealed in a statement on Sunday that Obehi was caught with three wraps of cocaine hidden in her private part, two parcels tucked into a false bottom of her handbag, and 67 pellets of the drug which she had swallowed.
“She admitted to being unable to swallow all 70 pellets as instructed. After ingesting 67, she became uncomfortable and decided to hide the remaining three in her private part,” Babafemi said. “All the 67 swallowed pellets were retrieved under excretion observation, bringing the total weight of the drugs she attempted to traffic to 2.523 kilograms.”
In a related operation, the agency intercepted a 22-year-old British citizen, Campbell Slifer, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on Friday, May 9. Slifer was found with 35 parcels of “Loud,” a strong strain of cannabis, weighing 37.6 kilograms in two suitcases.
According to Babafemi, the suspect had previously been convicted in the United Kingdom for drug trafficking and robbery. “He confessed to being recruited in London to collect the drugs in Thailand and deliver them to Nigeria,” he added.
The agency also disclosed the seizure of 3,047 kilograms of cannabis (skunk) along the Suleja-Kaduna Road in Niger State. The drugs were being transported in a fuel tanker and three other vehicles. Four suspects—Christopher Onyema, 47; Benedict Etineruba Young, 54; Chukwudi Ujue Jerry, 30; and Mohammed Abdullahi Danasabe—were arrested in connection with the shipment.
Further seizures were made in Lagos where NDLEA officers intercepted 1.1 kilograms of Loud hidden inside a pillow shipped from Thailand via a courier company.
In Bauchi State, two men, Isaac Onogure, 37, and Ikechukwu Peter, 44, were arrested while transporting 505 kilograms of cannabis in a Toyota Tundra jeep on the Bauchi–Gombe highway.
In Kano, a raid in the Rijiyar Zaki area led to the recovery of 775 litres of codeine syrup. Two suspects—Hafizu Isa Uman, 34, and Ismail Shehu, 48—were apprehended.
“These operations highlight the agency’s continued commitment to dismantling drug trafficking networks across the country,” Babafemi stated. “We will not relent in our efforts to curb the menace and protect public health and safety.”