Kano, Nigeria — March 21, 2025

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has made a massive drug seizure of heroin hidden in packets of chocolate wraps and arrested one 42-year-old Indian female, Ms. Neetu Neetu, upon arrival at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA). This was on 14th March 2025, during a sting operation pursuant to credible information.

The heroin was found after a rigorous search of Ms. Neetu’s luggage at the inward clearance of Qatar Airways flight QR1431, which had arrived from Bangkok, Thailand, through Vietnam and Doha, a statement issued on Sunday by NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said.

The 72 parcels of the drugs were found concealed in wafer wrappers and wrapped to resemble chocolate. The shipment weighed 11 kilograms in total.

The arrest has raised serious issues regarding the rising trend of foreign drug cartels using foreign nationals, including women, to export drugs through Nigerian borders. NDLEA Chairman and CEO Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd.) referred to the increasing threat of drug trafficking organizations using new tactics to evade detection in his response to the incident.

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“This disturbing trend of drug cartels recruiting foreign nationals to sell illegal drugs, including white women, is increasingly on the rise,” Marwa said. “Our dedicated officers, aided by advanced technological gadgets and proactive intelligence, continue to thwart these efforts, ensuring that illegal drugs do not enter Nigerian society.”

The Kano International Airport seizure is one of a series of successful operations by the NDLEA in the region. Not even days after the heroin seizure, NDLEA officials made another significant arrest on March 19 when a 45-year-old suspect, Michael Ogundele, was apprehended along the Zaria-Kano road with a 50-litre steel gas cylinder. Acting on an intelligence tip, NDLEA agents used welding tools to smash open the cylinder, and 50,000 tramadol 225mg capsules filled therein were uncovered.

On the 18th of March, NDLEA agents arrested a female suspect, Khadijah Abdullahi, in the Lungun Bulala Yalwa neighborhood of Kano. Abdullahi was arrested with 424 bottles of codeine syrup, a substance commonly abused as a way of recreation.

Besides, on March 19, Sunday Ogar, another suspect, was arrested at Gunduwawa, Kano with 27kg of skunk, a highly concentrated variety of cannabis.

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The latest operations reflect the ongoing efforts of the NDLEA to combat the illicit drug trade in Nigeria. The agency has become increasingly effective at seizing large consignments of drugs at key points of entry, using intelligence-gathering techniques and sophisticated technology to stay one step ahead of traffickers.

In this latest announcement, NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi reiterated that the agency was committed to ensuring the safety and security of Nigerian citizens by breaking up drug trafficking ring operations. “Our agents are working day and night with the determination to thwart all sorts of illicit drug operations, no matter how smart the traffickers may be getting.”

The confiscation of heroin in chocolate wrappers at the Kano airport is just one example of the evolving strategies adopted by international drug cartels, but it is also a testament to the NDLEA’s continued success at preventing the supply of harmful drugs in the country. With fresh strategies emerging each day, the agency remains resolute in its determination to deploy every means available to it to pursue and apprehend drug dealers.

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