NDLEA Uncovers Drugs Hidden In Fake Boarding Passes

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Sunday said drug traffickers now hide illicit substances inside items disguised as ordinary flight boarding passes.

The Agency Director of Media and Advocacy, Mr Femi Babafemi, in a post on the microblogging site X, said operatives discovered the method in Lagos while tracking dispatch-based drug distribution networks.

Disclosing the findings, Babafemi explained that traffickers increasingly rely on everyday-looking packages to move narcotics across cities, exploiting dispatch riders to deliver substances such as “Colos,” a psychoactive drug, without raising suspicion.

He urged parents, guardians and the general public to closely monitor the contents of deliveries received by young people, warning that traffickers now embed drugs within items that appear harmless.

Babafemi emphasised the risk in a series of posts, stating, “These may appear as ordinary flight boarding passes but neatly concealed in them are dangerous substances such as Colos.”

He added that the discovery reflects an evolving tactic: “This is one of the new methods of distributing illicit drugs in cities as uncovered by NDLEA Nigeria operatives in Lagos.”

He further warned families to be more attentive to deliveries made to their children, saying, “This is another wake-up call to parents and guardians to pay attention to what dispatch riders are delivering to their children and wards.”

Babafemi also noted traffickers’ increasing creativity, stressing that the agency remains vigilant:

“The merchants of death are getting more disingenuous with their packaging but #NDLEA is surely steps ahead of them.”

According to the Agency, it will intensify monitoring of dispatch-based drug distribution channels and continue to expose concealment strategies used by traffickers as part of its ongoing urban drug-control operations.