Video: NDLEA intercepts drugs hidden in palm oil keg bound for Saudi Arabia
Abdullateef Fowewe
Nigerians have been urged once again to reject any parcel or luggage offered for delivery by others, no matter how close the relationship, after the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) intercepted a keg of palm oil containing illicit drugs at an airport.
Video: NDLEA intercepts drugs hidden in palm oil keg bound for Saudi Arabia
In a public alert posted on Sunday, NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy Femi Babafemi shared video footage of officers cutting open the container.
The keg had been given to a woman travelling to Saudi Arabia with instructions to deliver it to someone else on arrival.
“Never accept any parcel or luggage from anyone or on behalf of anyone no matter how close you’re!
“The keg of palm oil in this video was given to a lady going to Saudi Arabia to help deliver to someone else there. When @ndlea_nigeria officers intercepted her at the airport, it turned out the keg of oil was used to conceal illicit drug,” Babafemi had written.
He added, “She’ll have been counting her days on earth by now if this was discovered in Saudi. Please share and spread the message, warn your friends and family members about this. Choose to offend the person than go to jail. BE WISE!”
The video shows officials using tools to open the plastic keg, pouring out the thick reddish oil into a metal bowl, and recovering wrapped packages of the concealed substance from inside.
The warning forms part of the agency’s ongoing campaign against the use of unwitting carriers by drug trafficking networks.
NDLEA has cautioned the public against accepting items whose contents they have not personally packed or verified, stressing that possession alone can lead to arrest and prosecution.
Similar concealment methods have featured in recent NDLEA operations.
In April 2026, officers intercepted cocaine hidden inside tins of palm kernel extract destined for the United Kingdom and later raided a warehouse containing hundreds of prepared tins. Other seizures have involved drugs or ammunition hidden in palm oil kegs and food packages.
Saudi Arabia enforces some of the world’s strictest drug laws, with severe penalties including lengthy prison terms or the death sentence for trafficking offences.
Interception in Nigeria prevented the traveller from facing those consequences upon arrival.
