NIGERIA: NDLEA Arrests 67-Year-Old British-Nigerian Grandmother with 13kg Cocaine Hidden in Fake Plantain

By Ameenat Hamzat, Lagos, Nigeria

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 67-year-old British-Nigerian grandmother, Mary Barek, for allegedly attempting to smuggle 13 kilograms of cocaine concealed in fake plantain peels through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.

NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said Barek, a caregiver based in the United Kingdom, was arrested at the departure hall of Terminal 2 while preparing to board a Virgin Atlantic flight to London.

Babafemi said, “A thorough search of her bags resulted in the discovery of 31 big wraps of cocaine which were packaged to appear like plantain hands, weighing a total of 13 kilograms. In her statement, the elderly woman admitted full ownership of the recovered cocaine exhibits.”

In a separate operation, the agency arrested a 45-year-old PhD student at the University of Putra, Malaysia, Nwabueze Felix Onyeka, over an attempt to export 5.8 kilograms of cocaine concealed inside cartons of Orijin Bitters bound for Kuala Lumpur.

Babafemi said Onyeka was identified as the leader of a drug trafficking syndicate after investigators arrested four other suspects linked to the shipment.

He said, “The efforts eventually paid off, leading to the unmasking of Nwabueze hiding in his village Aziora, Ozubulu, Anambra State as the leader of the syndicate.”

The agency also reported major drug seizures across Taraba, Kaduna, Ebonyi, Plateau and Gombe states, including 43,980 capsules of Tramadol, 1.7 kilograms of methamphetamine, and more than 800 kilograms of cannabis recovered from multiple suspects.

Commending officers involved in the operations, NDLEA Chairman, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd.), praised the commands for combining enforcement with public enlightenment.

Babafemi quoted Marwa as saying he “commended the officers and men of MMIA, Taraba, Kaduna, Ebonyi, Plateau, and Gombe Commands for the arrests and seizures,” while noting that “their drug supply reduction efforts balanced with WADA sensitisation activities,” and charging officers nationwide to continue raising the operational bar.