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Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have apprehended a 42-year-old Indian woman, Neetu Neetu, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) in Kano, who was found with 72 parcels of heroin, factory-sealed in wafer wraps and disguised as chocolate.
This class A drug shipment, weighing a total of 11 kilogrammes, was retrieved from Neetu’s luggage after a comprehensive search triggered by reliable intelligence during the arrival clearance of Qatar Airways flight QR1431 from Bangkok, Thailand, via Vietnam and Doha on Friday, March 14, 2025.
Neetu's detention indicates an increasing trend among drug trafficking organizations to recruit foreign women and white individuals to smuggle illegal drugs across Nigerian borders a strategy that vigilant NDLEA agents have effectively countered using advanced technology and proactive intelligence, according to Brig Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, in his immediate response to Neetu’s capture.
In a separate operation in Kano, NDLEA officers on Thursday, March 20, captured a 45-year-old suspect, Michael Ogundele, who was found with a 50-litre steel gas cylinder at Gadar Tamburawa along the Zaria-Kano road. Following credible intelligence, welding tools were utilized to slice open the large cylinder, revealing 50,000 pills of tramadol 225mg hidden within.
Meanwhile, Sunday Ogar, 40, was arrested on Wednesday, March 19, in the Gunduwawa area of Kano with 27kg of skunk, a cannabis strain, while a female suspect, Khadijah Abdullahi, 40, was apprehended on Tuesday, March 18, with 424 bottles of codeine syrup in the Lungun Bulala Yalwa area of the state.
In Lagos, the pair of Olumuyiwa Kolawole and Samod Adisa were caught with 67.5kg of skunk in Mushin, along with 100.8kg of the same psychoactive substance confiscated from the store of two escaping suspects in the Anifowoshe area of Mushin. Additionally, Isah Idris was arrested in Apapa on Tuesday, March 18, with 4.5kg of skunk, 600 grams of tramadol 225 mg, and 30 litres of codeine syrup. Another suspect, Yahaya Mohamed, was detained on the same day in the Ikotun area of the state with various quantities of cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine.
