Woman arrested after palm oil her cousin gave her to deliver in Saudi Arabia was found full of drugs

• NDLEA operatives have arrested a woman at Kano airport after finding 511.75 grams of cannabis hidden in a palm oil keg she was carrying to Saudi Arabia.

• Fatimah Ahmad told investigators that her cousin, Abubakar Yahaya, gave her the container. He was also arrested at the airport.

• The seizure was part of the agency's latest operations, which included a major tramadol discovery at Apapa Port in Lagos.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a woman at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport after cannabis was allegedly found hidden in a gallon of palm oil she was carrying to Saudi Arabia.

The woman, identified as Fatimah Ahmad, was intercepted on Friday, October 16, 2026, during outward clearance for an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Jeddah via Addis Ababa, according to a statement issued on Sunday by NDLEA's Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi.

Operatives recovered parcels of cannabis, popularly called skunk, weighing 511.75 grams from the container.

Ahmad told operatives that the gallon was given to her by her cousin, Abubakar Yahaya, who was traced to the airport car park and arrested.

NDLEA's statement did not say whether Ahmad knew what the container held, however, in a “Public Alert” on X, with a video of officers removing polythene-wrapped substances from a keg, Babafemi said the woman was given the consignment and asked to deliver it to another person in Saudi Arabia. 

He warned that nobody should accept items from others for delivery, however close they are to the person, and said she could have faced grave consequences had the drugs been discovered in Saudi Arabia.

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He urged Nigerians to put their own safety and freedom first, regardless of their relationship with the person asking, and to share the warning with family and friends.

The Kano interception was part of NDLEA's latest weekly round-up, which also reported the discovery of 8,725 kilograms of powdered tramadol, worth over ₦6.98 billion, during a search of a shipment at the Apapa Port in Lagos.

The agency also reported raids in Edo, Ondo, Bauchi, Kaduna and the Federal Capital Territory. In Edo State, operatives arrested six suspects, including an 85-year-old woman found with 179 kilograms of skunk. In Ondo State, they raided a cannabis farm on October 17, destroying 7,500 kilograms of skunk on three hectares and arresting five suspects.

NDLEA has previously warned about travellers being used as couriers to Saudi Arabia. In May 2025, the agency said it dismantled a syndicate that sponsored intending hajj pilgrims as couriers to move cocaine, after arresting two pilgrims at the same Kano airport.