JANET OGUNDEPO writes about the weird and ‘creative’ ways traffickers hide hard drugs to evade the prying eyes of security and law enforcement agents and how Dubai, United Arab Emirates, seems to be becoming their destination of choice
When a cocaine drug trafficker, Lawal Oyenuga, was recently arrested by the operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, he claimed that he engaged in the illicit trade as a quick way to get money to pay his daughter’s examination fee.
According to the NDLEA, the suspect was caught at the screening point of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos State, while waiting to board a flight to Saudi Arabia.
His mission to the country was to deliver the 400 grams of cocaine concealed in the soles of a pair of blue feathery palm sandals allegedly given to him by one Wasiu Gbolahan.
The suspect said he was supposed to ingest the drug but when that became impossible, he resorted to trafficking it in palm sandals.
But a few weeks before Oyenuga’s arrest, a 56-year-old mother of four was arrested with the same quantity of cocaine concealed in her sandals and headed for the same destination as Oyenuga.
In a different mode, 1.10kg of cannabis was concealed in several bottles of creams ready to be transported to Dubai but was intercepted by the NDLEA. A shopkeeper was alleged to have been the owner of the consignment.
Every week, the media is awash with news, videos and pictures of drug peddlers caught by anti-narcotics operatives while about to board a flight or deliver a parcel and even among cargoes and shipment.
Data sourced from the NDLEA and analysed by our correspondent showed that Dubai, United Arab Emirates, appears to be a choice destination of many a trafficker.
Many of the traffickers intercepted by the NDLEA at airports were headed for Dubai with various quantities of illicit drugs.
According to the data, between September and November this year, no fewer than 14 Dubai-bound traffickers were arrested by operatives of the anti-narcotics agency at airports.
It was also observed that the traffickers are becoming more inventive, devising most unusual methods to evade the scrutiny of the agency.
The magnitude of the drugs menace in Nigeria is further underscored by uncovering of large quantities of illicit drugs at local transportation services within the country. Some were stored in the compartments of spare tyres and luggage, among others.
Illicit drug war
A health information blog, Medic8.com defines hard drugs as the types of drugs considered more harmful than ‘soft’ drugs and can lead to addiction. They include heroin, cocaine, crack, amphetamines, crystal meth, and hallucinogenic drugs, among others.
A study by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime on Drug Use in Nigeria revealed that in 2017, there were 10.6 million cannabis users and 92,000 cocaine users in Nigeria.
It stated that the prevalence of drug use in the South-West zone was 22.4 per cent with over 4.4 million users. It added that the South-South had a 16.6 per cent prevalence with about 2.1 million users, while the South-East and the North-East zone had 13.8 per cent and 13.6 per cent prevalence, respectively.
Also, it reported that 14.2 million Nigerians between the ages of 15 and 64 years had used a psychoactive substance in the past year for non-medical purposes.
These numbers, therefore, imply the presence of a large and ‘thriving’ illicit drugs market to satisfy the need of its users.
A drug rehabilitation and education group, Narconon, stated that in the 1980s, Nigeria became a channel for Indian heroin and cocaine going to Europe. In the 1990s, cannabis and other psychotropic drugs began to be produced within Nigeria. Nigeria then became a hub for trafficking channels with complex methods of moving drugs.
In 1989, the NDLEA was set up by an Act to move against the cultivation, processing, sale, trafficking and use of hard drugs. This Act also empowers the agency to investigate suspected drug dealers and other related matters.
Figures of seized drugs from 1999 showed an explosive increase in the activities of traffickers despite several measures to impound these substances.
In 1999, 16,000kg of cannabis herb and 15.6kg of cocaine were seized. In 2000, the figure rose to 272,000kg for cannabis and 54kg for cocaine. In 2007, Nigeria ranked fourth in the global rating of marijuana seizures.
Bizarre methods of concealing drugs
Several findings revealed that illegal substances were concealed in corpses, hidden in private parts, scriptural materials, shoes, clothes and luggage. They are also hidden in containers, cargoes, vehicle spare parts, tyres, food and fruit items, canned and packaged liquid and solid substances, and large shipments of chemicals or raw materials to companies.
Several years ago, drug barons coerced prostitutes and gullible young adults into transporting these substances through these means as well as ingesting them or inserting them in their private parts. But now, both the young and old engage in these illegal trades for a promise of quick wealth.
Drug trafficking reportedly became a capital offence in 1984 but deaths sentence was repealed after the public condemnation of the law. The recent light sentences and corrupt anti-drug law agents, together with the high unemployment rate and inflation seemed to encourage drug barons and traffickers in their illegal trade despite the several technological methods currently in place to fish them out.
Drugs hidden in shoes, food items
No one would think that packets of illicit drugs will be wrapped with several pieces of cayenne pepper. But drug traffickers have 
recently used them to conceal their ‘trade’ from the prying eyes of security operatives.
In August, the NDLEA said that it seized 11.9kg of crystal methamphetamine concealed in a box containing heads of fish.
The parcel was delivered by a freight agent for onward shipment to Dubai, from the MMIA. The agency stated that the 442 drug pieces were placed in seven boxes and wrapped with foil paper and concealed in the heads of hundreds of smoked catfish.
Also in August, 1.45kg of cannabis was found concealed in granulated melon and crayfish, among other food condiments to be shipped to Dubai.
Also, a carton of food items was used to conceal 500 grams of cannabis for shipment to Dubai.
In November, cargo items of cloths, cereals, baby toys and drinks were used to conceal several parcels of cannabis heading to Dubai.
These findings revealed that Dubai was the chosen country for cargo and persons with concealed illicit drugs.
Foreigners not left out
In June, a Brazilian man was reported to have returned to Nigeria with pellets of cocaine concealed in his private parts.
The suspect was caught at the arrival hall of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos State.
Intelligence gathering revealed that the Bazilian had ingested about 50 wraps of cocaine before departing Brazil on an Ethiopian Airline flight to Addis Ababa.
When he deplaned, he excreted 48 pellets at the gents of a hotel room he lodged in while waiting for his Lagos-bound flight. While en route to Lagos, he excreted the remaining two wraps in the aircraft’s restroom and concealed them in his private parts.
Also, in November, two Pakistani men concealed 8kg of cocaine in a mobile public address system. They were caught at the MMIA while about to board a Qatar Airways plane back to their country.
The suspects, Asif Muhammed and Hussain Naveed, were said to be frequent travellers to Nigeria. They had just returned to Nigeria a few days before their capture on another return to their country.
More ‘weird’ packaging
When what seemed to be a nicely packaged machine part was dismantled by the NDLEA officials, 550 grams of cannabis loud was found concealed in the machine parts. The consignment was headed for Dubai, United Arab Emirates, but the sender was arrested before he left the airport.
Also, several packs of beauty soap contained tablets of Tramadol. Both ends of the package were pieces of the soap but after cutting off the tip, black polythene with about 20 sachets of Tramadol was found concealed in the soap.
Also, a Nigerian man returning from Brazil was found with 4kg of cocaine he concealed in soaked towels stuffed in his hand luggage. The suspect was said to have alighted from a Qatar Airline flight from Brazil and landed in Abuja.
136,000 pills of Tramadol were concealed in the spare tyre of one Alhassan Muhammed. He was arrested on October 30 by NDLEA operatives along the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway.
Also, in a drug raid, operatives of the NDLEA stormed a warehouse in Edo State and seized 141 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 1.884 tons.
In 2021, a Turkey-bound passenger was arrested with 78 grams of cannabis mixed with dried bitter leaves.
Dubai as choice destination
Our correspondent noted that between September and November, most of the arrests and seizures of illicit drugs, especially cannabis sativa, at the ports, were from persons and shipments headed for Dubai.
A check of the drug trafficking and peddling in Dubai revealed a 2010 news report that Dubai was being used as a drug trafficking hub.
The report quoted the country’s anti-narcotics director, Maj Gen Abdul Mahdi, as stating that crime syndicates were taking advantage of the “city’s numerous points of entry and departures to throw investigators off the trail.”
Mahdi added that the traffickers were developing new techniques to recruit moles and establishing “false points of departure” to deceive the agents.
The Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, said the agency was not oblivious of the trend about Dubai.
Babafemi explained that Dubai became a choice destination for drug traffickers because of the current shortage, increased demand and prices of the drugs, especially, cannabis sativa, in the Arab nation.
He added that the seizures had caused a shortage of the availability of drugs in Dubai and a price increase.
Babafemi said, “The prices of those drugs, especially cannabis, have risen in Dubai and because of the series of seizures and all the mechanisms out in place in Nigeria, the drugs that had been previously available there were no longer available. This affected the prices and desperation.
“You will see that there will always be somebody there who is working to receive the drugs over there, so they are the ones putting pressure on suppliers from Nigeria to supply. But we have been making that difficult for them and we have been working with our counterparts in UAE to ensure a closure from their end while we work on ours.”
He further noted that drug traffickers could be exploiting Dubai’s tourist attraction as a transit point to other countries of the world.
Babafemi added that the agency had placed an alert on cargoes and movements to and fro Dubai as parts of efforts to intensify the anti-narcotics war.
A diplomat, who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, said the trend is connected to the recent visa policy by Dubai to stop issuance of tourist visas to persons under the age of 40 except for those applying for family visas.
A legal consultant in Dubai, Hassan Elhais, advocated “a strict no-tolerance policy” on drug trafficking in the UAE to dismantle the trend.
He called for increased penalty for drug trafficking and use.
Findings showed that penalty for arrested drug traffickers in the UAE is between six and two years’ imprisonment. Alternatively, an offender is fined 10,000 dirhams (equivalent to $2,722 and N1.2m). In addition, a foreigner is deported.
But Elhais, in an opinion, argued that punishment for drug trafficking and abuse should include life imprisonment and a death sentence.
Despite NDLEA’s arrests
The PUNCH had reported that the NDLEA stated that between January and September, it arrested more than 192 suspected drug traffickers in Ebonyi State. It added that within that period, it seized about 113.414kg of cannabis sativa.
Also, in June, the NDLEA said it arrested 218 suspects and seized 1,471kg of drugs in Imo State. It further said that it seized 1,458.49 kg of cannabis sativa, 10,513kg of cocaine, 0.22kg of heroin, 3.90kg of methamphetamine and 3.2kg of Tramadol.
In April, the ant-narcotics agency stated that it jailed 677 drug traffickers and arrested 3,359 in three months.
In June, the Apapa command of the NDLEA reported that it seized 19,703.25kg of hard drugs worth N6bn worth of drugs.
In September, following a successful bust of a major drug warehouse in Ikordu, Lagos State, the NDLEA said that it seized N194bn worth of cocaine and arrested five drug barons. It recorded that the warehouse contained about 1.8 tons of illicit drugs.
In August, the anti-narcotics agency said it had seized over N130bn drugs in 17 months. It also stated that it burnt over 560,068 kg of assorted illicit drugs seized by its operatives in what was described as the largest collection of illicit drugs in the history of the agency.
Earlier in the year, about 123 persons from the northern region of the country, were convicted of illegal drug possession. About 4,858kg of illicit drugs were seized.
While these arrests and seizures reflect the NDLEA Chairman, retired Brig. Gen, Mohamed Buba Marwa’s commitment to the war against drug abuse and trafficking, it further arouses the question of the severity of the drug use and trade in Nigeria.
It also calls for a deeper look into the activities of drug traffickers and an upgrade in the methods of fishing out these criminals.
Promise of wealth fuelling drug peddling – Criminologists
Reacting to the issue, a professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the National Open University of Nigeria, Sam Smah, stated that criminal-minded individuals engage in intellectual thinking to outsmart law enforcement agents and escape detection and arrest.
He added said that the promise of quick wealth by the drug lords to willing parties blind peddlers to the possibilities and consequences of being caught by anti-drug agents.
The don said, “When people engage in drug trafficking, they engage in critical thinking and applying their senses to the logic of escape. They are also blind to the fact that law enforcement agencies are also working very hard to detect substances that could be hidden in particular utensils.
“Over the years, we have seen certain trends from country to country because it is typical of the drug traffickers to research environments that are porous in terms of law enforcement, the legal framework that is weak or kind of lenient in terms of punishment that is usually meted out to arrested culprits.”
He added that the successes of the law enforcement officials determine the next concealment tricks drug traffickers would engage in to evade capture.
The scholar urged law enforcement agents to further improve their methods of searching to ensure that nothing beats them.
Smah said, “The criminal mind does not give up and people don’t change much. A criminal is always a criminal and would want to create a system that is advantageous to them. They also study the law, practice and reports and find out how they can beat the system and the success of beating it encourages them to devise more strategies and methods.
“If you find that people are using a particular method to carry out their criminalities and go undetected, nobody knows that such strategies exist. Now that we know, they must have been beaten to their games in the use of the traditionally-known methods; so, they are now researching and finding newer ways that would work to further conceal their substances.”
Smah also said that the lenient legal provisions and light sentences meted out to arrested drug peddlers created many loopholes in the fight for a drug-free society.
The criminologist stated, “We need to understand the exact import of using our airports as transit points for drug trafficking. This requires a general upscaling of measures within the West African sub-region, particularly through the Economic Community of West African States.
“Also, we need to put in place technological devices at every border point that would enable the tracing of every suspicious substance. A lot has to do with the law enforcement to ensure that our communities are rid of all the possibilities that enhance trafficking using whatever means available.”
Also, a professor of sociology at the University of Abuja, Philomena Ozo-Eson, said that the socio-economic situation in the country fuelled the increase in drug trafficking.
She added that the influx of women into the drug trafficking market confirmed that women were also affected by the socioeconomic situation.
The researcher on criminology and gender said, “In this society today, we have a situation whereby the resources are concentrated in the hands of very few individuals and the majority of the people are left without a means of livelihood. Criminals are frustrated and desperate, which is why despite the several control measures and the arrests being made, they are still going into drugs and seeing it as a way of meeting their needs. It is the poverty in the country that makes people do this because if people were engaged, they won’t be pushed into criminal and drug trafficking issues.”
The criminologist noted that the destruction of development and human resources were the negative sociological impacts of illicit substance use and peddling in the country.
Ozo-Eson added that drug peddling further influenced other criminal activities, consequently, the social construct of society.
She stated that the provision of job opportunities, means of livelihood, adequate education and social amenities would reduce the menace of criminals.
“In every society, there will always be criminals, but the high rate of criminality in Nigeria is too much. It is like the Nigerian society is in a state of lawlessness and there is no control and everyone is doing whatever they like. There is fuel scarcity, unemployment and so on and as long as we have these issues, there is no amount of control that you would put in place at the governmental level that would reduce crime. You have to be interested in the citizens of your nation. Right now, the ruling class is not living up to expectations,” Ozo-Eson said.
Review law setting up NDLEA – Lawyers
For his part, a human rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, stated that the high rate of unemployment and inflation were responsible for the upsurge in drug trafficking.
He added that crime was better prevented when the populace was engaged in meaningful labour.
The SAN stated that due to the nature of the law that set up the NDLEA, drug peddlers received light sentences and in most cases, the suspects were given a summary trial.
The lawyer said, “When a hemp factory or weed farm is seen in a particular location, once the suspect confesses to the crime, there is nothing the judge would do. The sentences are a little mild compared to the other criminal cases.”
He further urged the National Assembly to review the law setting up the NDLEA to make it more prosecution friendly and at par with modern realities.
Adegboruwa added, “For instance, the law does not cover electronic matters, in terms of people who engage in anything beyond paper documents can still use the electronic modes or scientific methods to discover whether there is a drug in a place or not. These are not part of the law yet, because it was made a long time ago. So the advice is for the National Assembly to review the law and bring it in conformity with modern realities.”
Also, an advocacy lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Wahab Shittu, said drug-related offences, corruption, money laundering and other capital offences needed severe punishments to deter offenders.
Shittu added that an institutionalised system to dispense stiff punishments to offenders was one of the measures to curb the menace of drug traffickers.
He said, “You must institutionalise a regime of stiff consequences for criminal infractions. If you look at the international best practices, there are about five listed measures that could be taken to reduce the menace of offences that impact negatively on society. The first is that there must be proactive and preventive measures, two, you must enlist a high level of an international corporation; three, there must be intelligence sharing and technical assistance and above all, there must be punitive actions with stiff penalties.”
Like Adegboruwa, Shittu also called for an amendment to the law, stating that the current punishments do not match the severity of the offences.
He also recommended that the amended laws should be at par with the international best practices.
“We need to also look at our laws and see how we can amend some of them. In a situation where people commit such heinous crimes and they are just given just one or two years’ imprisonment or even an option of fine does not meet the severity of the offences.
“I would say that we should look in the direction of international best practices to see how these menaces are punished in other climes,” Shittu said.
NDLEA reacts
The NDLEA spokesperson, Babafemi, warned drug traffickers to quit and seek legitimate businesses or risk being caught.
He stated that suspects gave lack, poverty or meeting a pressing need as justification for peddling drugs, noting that some of the claims were sometimes used as a decoy to elicit pity or consideration.
Babafemi added that despite the seeming increase in the weird packaging of substances by drug peddlers, the agency, through its trained officials, intelligence gathering, technological devices and sniffer dogs, would also smoke out drug traffickers.
He stated, “The new leadership of the agency compulsorily placed a lot of premium on consistent and persistent training. This is impacting and reflecting in the operations of the officers and men of the agency. Also, anything and everything the agency does at the moment operationally is intelligence-led, that is to show the extent of intelligence used to uncover things like this.”
When asked about measures put in place to ensure that seized drugs are not recycled into society, Babafemi said that exhibits were stored and kept in three layers of security rooms that required the simultaneous presence of the officials before access can be got.
He added that exhibits were well documented and monitored by a special task force that embarked on unscheduled visits to the agency’s commands to ensure a corroboration of documented and physical exhibits.
The NDLEA’s spokesperson also said that aside from the arrest of the drug peddlers, 29 drug barons had been either arrested or currently on trial.
He said, “Invariably, what has been more pronounced are the activities of the agency. Substantially, the agency has dealt some deadly blows to the cartels operating in the country. If you go by the quantum of drugs seized so far, over 5.5 million kg, that is over 5,500 tonnes of assorted drugs seized so far. Also, cash and drugs worth over N450bn would affect the economy of any country much less, an individual or organised criminal groups.
“In the last 22 months, we have made 23,907 arrests including 29 barons. Getting drug barons is not something that comes easy before but now, because of intelligence, we don’t just arrest the moles and traffickers on the streets, roads and ports, we dig deep into knowing the owners and senders of the drugs.”
Babafemi added that the agency had devoted resources to tracking and ensuring that drug barons were arrested and tried in court, stating that this was made possible through a partnership with international agencies.
He further stated that due to the decades-long problem of illegal drugs in the country, the agency currently needed the support of private and public stakeholders to end the menace.
“We are looking at the kind of support that the COVID-19 pandemic attracted from private sector stakeholders that saw several interventions and funds to respond to the problem. We need that level of support because this is a public health challenge that is affecting no less than 15 million Nigerians. This would help create the level of awareness that would prevent quite a lot of people from going into drug abuse, a lot of contributions from the private sector in terms of donation of rehab centres to accommodate and rehabilitate those who have been afflicted by this sickness. We are asking for logistics, vehicles and things that will drive the ongoing effort. But amid these challenges, we have got tremendous support in the past and we are hoping for more,” he said.
