KEY POINTS

• NDLEA intercepted 500g of cocaine hidden in religious books bound for Saudi Arabia during a routine screening at a Lagos courier facility.

• The bust is part of broader national operations, which led to several arrests and the seizure of cannabis, heroin, meth, tramadol, and pentazocine across multiple states.

• The agency continues its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) through public education campaigns, aiming to reduce narcotics abuse and trafficking at its roots.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has intercepted a shipment of cocaine ingeniously concealed within religious books intended for export to Saudi Arabia.

Nairametrics reports that the seizure was made during a routine check at a courier facility in Lagos as part of the agency’s intensified efforts to thwart international drug trafficking.

In a statement released on Sunday, April 20, NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi confirmed that operatives from the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) uncovered 20 parcels of cocaine, weighing 500 grams in total, meticulously hidden inside 20 religious books. The discovery was made on Tuesday, April 15, at a courier company screening outbound consignments.

“The drugs were carefully hidden within the pages of religious books at a courier company in Lagos,” Babafemi stated. He described the concealment as “particularly deceptive,” highlighting the smugglers’ calculated attempt to evade detection by exploiting religious sentiment.

NDLEA expands operations 

On the same day, at another Lagos-based courier outlet, NDLEA officers intercepted five parcels of “Loud,” a potent strain of cannabis weighing 2.8 kilograms. The packages, shipped from the United States, were concealed inside a carton.

The agency believes these seizures demonstrate an increasing trend of traffickers attempting to misuse courier and logistics companies for cross-border narcotics trade.

“We are intensifying surveillance across courier hubs nationwide to clamp down on the misuse of legitimate delivery networks for drug smuggling,” Babafemi added.

Beyond Lagos, NDLEA agents executed multiple successful operations across the country. In Kano, 22-year-old Muhammad Mohammed was arrested with 277 ampoules of pentazocine—an opioid painkiller—taped to his thighs and private area. He was reportedly en route to Katsina to deliver the drugs to armed groups.

On the same day, another suspect, Mohammed Abdulrahman Abdulaziz, 43, was arrested in the Rimin Kebe area with 68 blocks of cannabis (skunk) weighing 30 kilograms.

Further west, a dramatic raid in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, led to the recovery of 557.2 kg of skunk, 5.6 kg of methamphetamine, and nearly 30 grams of heroin from a residential compound. Four suspects were apprehended: Sarimiye Suwa Kurtis (46), Roland Prosper (34), Sarimiye Tare Paul (45), and Fidelis Ugbesla (46).

Meanwhile, in Lagos, another large haul was seized from a delivery van in Surulere. A total of 1,100 kilograms of skunk was confiscated, and the driver, Ismail Abdullahi, was arrested.