NDLEA uncovers Saudi Arabia-bound cocaine concealed in religious books

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have seized a consignment of cocaine ingeniously hidden inside religious books destined for Saudi Arabia.

The agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, revealed in a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja that the illicit drugs were found embedded within the pages of twenty religious books.

According to him, the consignment comprised twenty parcels of cocaine, collectively weighing 500 grams.

The interception was carried out on Tuesday, April 15, by NDLEA operatives attached to the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI), during a routine examination of export cargo at a logistics company.

That same day, operatives at another courier facility discovered a separate illegal shipment—five parcels of “Loud,” a potent variety of cannabis. The parcels, weighing 2.8 kilograms, had been concealed in a carton shipped from the United States.

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In Kano State, a 22-year-old suspect, Muhammad Mohammed, believed to be a supplier of drugs to bandits, was apprehended by NDLEA officers while on patrol along Bichi–Kano Road.

Babafemi stated, “He was intercepted on Sunday, April 13, meanwhile another suspect, Mohammed Abdulaziz, 43, was arrested on the same day at Research Rimin Kebe area of Nasarawa, Kano with 68 blocks of skunk, a strain of cannabis, weighing 30kg.”

In another operation, NDLEA personnel raided two cannabis plantations located within the Egbeta forest in Edo State. The raid led to the destruction of cannabis crops weighing 3,717.8625 kilograms over an area of 1.487145 hectares. Additionally, 136.5 kilograms of already processed cannabis was recovered.

Meanwhile, a long-wanted suspect, Kayode Basorun, 40, was arrested at the Tincan seaport in Lagos. Basorun had been evading arrest for two years in connection with a 2023 case involving the importation of 107 kilograms of Loud from Canada.
Babafemi further disclosed that another individual, Dauda Yakubu, accused of distributing drugs within the seaport area, was apprehended by officers on Monday, April 14.