The national drug law enforcement agency (ndlea) has intercepted unusual attempts by two drug traffickers to smuggle cocaine and opioids concealed in their bodies and in a fake pregnancy bump at major points in nigeria.
in lagos, ndlea officers stopped a 35-year-old kano-based businesswoman, rabi muhammad, at the seme land border while she was trying to cross to cotonou, benin republic. a full body search revealed that her supposed pregnancy was fake, and her baby bump—a pink calabash tied around her waist—was used to hide 3,200 tramadol capsules intended for sale in cotonou.
on the same day in kano, ndlea operatives at mallam aminu kano international airport (makia) intercepted 41-year-old ivorian, michael gohouri (also known as anunwa onyinye michael), during outbound clearance on a flight to milan. a body scan confirmed ingestion of illicit substances, and under observation, he excreted 82 wraps of cocaine totaling 1.49 kilograms. reports indicated that gohouri had been shuttling between lagos, enugu, and kano, and was to be paid 5,000 euros upon delivery of the drugs in milan.
in a separate operation, ndlea arrested kolapo oladapo raji, chairman and ceo of trans fortress global resources, at his residence in ikate, lekki, lagos. the 57-year-old had been on the agency’s watchlist since 2025. searches at his home recovered four large bags of canadian loud, a potent cannabis strain, weighing a total of 89.2 kilograms, as well as a 2024 model toyota hilux. raji admitted that he became involved in the drug trade after receiving significant profits from financing consignments for an overseas associate, which encouraged him to establish his own distribution channel.
