NDLEA Arrests 67-Year-Old British-Nigerian Grandmother with 13kg Cocaine Hidden as Plantains

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 67-year-old British-Nigerian grandmother after operatives intercepted 13 kilograms of cocaine ingeniously concealed inside fake plantains at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, in what the agency described as another major breakthrough in its crackdown on international drug trafficking.

The suspect, Mrs Mary Yetunde Barek, a caregiver based in the United Kingdom, was arrested at the departure hall of Terminal 2 while attempting to board a Virgin Atlantic flight to London.

According to the NDLEA, officers conducting routine checks on Sunday, June 28, discovered 31 wraps of cocaine weighing 13 kilograms carefully packaged to resemble fresh hands of plantain in an apparent attempt to beat airport security screening.

The agency said Barek admitted ownership of the illicit consignment during interrogation, adding that investigations into the trafficking network behind the failed operation are continuing.

The arrest came as the NDLEA announced another major success against an alleged international cocaine syndicate with the arrest of Nwabueze Felix Onyeka, a 45-year-old PhD student at Universiti Putra Malaysia, whom investigators identified as the leader of a drug trafficking network operating between Nigeria and Malaysia.

According to the agency, Onyeka was arrested on Monday, June 29, in Ekwusigo Local Government Area of Anambra State after investigators linked him to the attempted shipment of 36 parcels of cocaine weighing 5.80 kilograms concealed inside specially modified cartons of Orijin Bitters destined for Kuala Lumpur.

The NDLEA said the arrest followed earlier operations in Lagos, where four suspects, cargo agent Alalade Taiwo Azeez, driver Ndem Ogbonna Kelechi, trader Okeke Tochukwu Chimezie and Igwilo Chidi Henry, who allegedly supplied the cartons used to conceal the drugs, had already been taken into custody.

Investigators subsequently traced Onyeka to his hometown of Aziora in Ozubulu, Anambra State, where he was apprehended.

In another operation, NDLEA operatives intercepted Daniel Harrison Ugwuoke, 30, along the Zaki-Biam Road in Wukari Local Government Area of Taraba State on Saturday, July 4.

The agency said Ugwuoke was travelling from Onitsha, Anambra State, when officers discovered 43,980 capsules of tramadol hidden inside two specially modified fuel tanks of his vehicle.

The latest operations formed part of a series of nationwide raids carried out by the anti-narcotics agency over the past week.

In Kaduna State, operatives arrested Boniface Agu, 65, and Monday Nwaeze, 50, with 1.7 kilograms of methamphetamine in Gwantu. In Ebonyi State, Francis Ifara Eja, 65, was apprehended in Ikwo with 231.7 kilograms of skunk, while in Plateau State, Alhaji Babani, 75, was arrested in Kurgwi, Qua'an Pan Local Government Area, after officers recovered 15 kilograms of skunk from him.

The agency also recorded one of its biggest cannabis seizures in Gombe State, where operatives arrested Dahiru Mohammed, 65, and Isiya Lawan, 36, after recovering 587 blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 556 kilograms in Kuri village, Yamaltu-Deba Local Government Area.

Beyond enforcement operations, the NDLEA said it continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign through sensitisation programmes held in schools and communities across Anambra, Enugu, Ogun and Kano states as part of efforts to reduce drug abuse through public education.

Commenting on the operations, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers involved in the various raids, saying the arrests and seizures underscore the agency's determination to dismantle drug trafficking networks while sustaining preventive campaigns against substance abuse.

Marwa urged commands across the country to maintain the momentum, stressing that the agency would continue combining intelligence-led enforcement with community sensitisation to curb the growing threat of illicit drug trafficking and abuse in Nigeria.