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Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested Ihensekhien Obehi, a woman attempting to smuggle cocaine into Iran through an unusual concealment strategy. The arrest took place at the Port Harcourt International Airport on Sunday, May 3, 2025, as Obehi, disguised in a hijab, was preparing to board a Qatar Airways flight to Iran via Doha.
NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi confirmed the arrest in a statement, revealing that Obehi had concealed cocaine in multiple areas of her body. “During her search, agents found three wraps of cocaine inserted in her private part, two large parcels hidden in false compartments of her handbag, and 67 pellets that she had ingested,” Babafemi explained.
Obehi was immediately placed under excretion observation. Over several days and four excretions, she expelled all 67 pellets of the Class A drug. She later claimed that she had intended to swallow 70 pellets but, after ingesting 67, could no longer continue and opted to insert the remaining three into her private part. The total weight of the cocaine concealed in her body amounted to 2.523 kilograms.
In a separate incident, NDLEA operatives at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos intercepted a 22-year-old British national, Campbell Slifer, on Friday, May 9, with two suitcases containing 35 parcels of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis. The total weight of the seized drugs was 37.6 kilograms. Babafemi added that Slifer, who has a prior criminal record in the UK for drug trafficking and robbery, admitted to investigators that he had been recruited in London to pick up the drugs in Thailand and deliver them to Nigeria.
Further anti-narcotics operations across Nigeria led to significant drug seizures. In Niger State, NDLEA officers intercepted a fuel tanker and three vehicles transporting 246 bags of skunk weighing 3,047 kilograms along the Suleja-Kaduna Road. Four suspects—Christopher Onyema, 47; Benedict Etineruba Young, 54; Chukwudi Ujue Jerry, 30; and Mohammed Abdullahi Danasabe—were arrested. The vehicles recovered included a Honda Odyssey bus (plate number YAB 667 CZ), a Gulf bus (registration number GWA 125 TQ), and another Honda Odyssey (plate number ABJ 230 CN).
In Lagos, NDLEA operatives intercepted 1.1 kilograms of Loud concealed in a pillow sent from Thailand at a courier service hub. In Bauchi State, NDLEA officers on patrol along the Bauchi-Gombe Road stopped a Toyota Tundra jeep (plate number RBC 111 DW) carrying 526 blocks of skunk, totaling 505 kilograms. Two suspects, Isaac Onogure, 37, and Ikechukwu Peter, 44, were arrested in connection with the seizure. Additionally, in Kano, a raid at a hideout in the Rijiyar Zaki area on Saturday, May 10, led to the recovery of 31 kegs containing 775 liters of codeine syrup. Two suspects, Hafizu Isa Uman, 34, and Ismail Shehu, 48, were taken into custody.
