A 43-year-old makeup artist, Adekoya Adebukonla Mary, was arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos with 2.2 kilograms of cocaine hidden in her luggage.
Adebukonla claimed she was traveling to India for fibroid surgery, but investigations revealed she was recruited and funded by a drug baron, Akeem Ayinde Adekanbi, to traffic the drugs.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) officers acted on credible intelligence, placing Adebukonla under surveillance before arresting her at the boarding gate of her Qatar Airways flight to India via Doha.
During interrogation, she admitted to trafficking the drugs for financial gain, using the alleged medical trip as cover.
This arrest is part of a larger crackdown on drug trafficking in Nigeria, with the NDLEA making several other notable seizures and arrests in recent days.
These include intercepting a shipment of 1.3 kilograms of cannabis destined for Bahrain, 850 grams of cocaine bound for Australia, and over 1 million opioid pills in Bauchi State. The NDLEA continues to work to combat drug trafficking and abuse in the country.
