NDLEA FOILS DRUG SMUGGLING ATTEMPTS, ARRESTS IRAN-BOUND WOMAN WITH COCAINE, BRITISH EX-CONVICT WITH CANNABIS
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has thwarted the attempt of a woman, Ihensekhien Miracle Obehi, to smuggle cocaine to Iran. Obehi was arrested at the Port Harcourt International Airport on May 3, 2025, while trying to board a Qatar Airline flight to Iran via Doha. She had concealed 2.523 kilograms of cocaine in her private part, stomach, and false bottom of her handbag.
According to Femi Babafemi, Director of Media and Advocacy at the NDLEA, Obehi swallowed 67 pellets of cocaine but inserted three wraps into her private part when she couldn’t swallow the remaining three. “She claimed she was to swallow 70 pellets of cocaine but after ingesting 67 pieces, she could no longer swallow the remaining three and decided to insert them into her private part,” Babafemi said.
In a similar incident, NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos intercepted a 22-year-old British national, Campell Kaizra Kofi Johannes Slifer, with 37.60 kilograms of cannabis. Slifer, who had been convicted twice in the UK for drug trafficking and robbery, claimed he was recruited in London to bring the consignment to Nigeria.
The NDLEA also made significant seizures in other parts of the country. In Niger State, officers intercepted a fuel truck and three vehicles loaded with 3,047 kilograms of cannabis. Four suspects were arrested in connection with the seizure.
Other notable seizures include:
– *109,914 pills of tramadol, swinol, and nitrozepam*: seized from two suspects at Oja Amukoko in Lagos
– 52.5kg of skunk: recovered from two suspects in Kaduna State
– *45,400 pills of tramadol*: seized from a suspect in Kwara State
– *526 blocks of skunk weighing 505kg*: intercepted in Bauchi State
– *775 litres of codeine syrup*: recovered from two suspects in Kano
– 1.1kg of cannabis: concealed in a pillow and intercepted at a courier company in Lagos
The NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended the officers and men of the agency for their efforts in foiling drug smuggling attempts and pursuing a fair balance between drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.
