Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have foiled an attempt to smuggle large quantities of tramadol across Nigeria’s land border using a bizarre concealment method, the agency said in a statement.
According to the NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, a 35-year-old businesswoman identified as Rabi Muhammad was intercepted on Monday, February 16, 2026, at the Seme land border in Lagos while trying to cross into Cotonou, Benin Republic.
NDLEA officers became suspicious after noticing her unusually protruding stomach during routine checks. A subsequent search revealed that her so-called pregnancy was fake. Inside the artificial “baby bump,” she had strapped a pink calabash to her abdomen containing 3,200 tramadol capsules intended for sale across the border.
The agency described the concealment method as part of increasingly “bizarre” tactics used by drug traffickers to smuggle substances illicitly.
In the same operation, NDLEA officials at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport also intercepted a 41-year-old Ivorian man, Michael Gohouri, who was found to have ingested 82 wraps of cocaine weighing about 1.49 kilograms. He later excreted the wraps while under observation after a body scan detected the drugs.
The agency’s statement noted that Gohouri had flown from Lagos to Kano before boarding a flight to Milan, Italy, and was expected to be paid about 5,000 Euros upon delivery of the drugs.
This arrest adds to a series of recent NDLEA operations that have disrupted smuggling attempts and drug trafficking networks across Nigerian entry points.
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