The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency says its officers have uncovered a shipment of strong narcotics hidden inside household water purifiers brought into Nigeria from abroad.

NDLEA’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, disclosed that the bust happened on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, during checks at a logistics firm in Lagos. The package, which originated from the Netherlands, contained 3kg of ketamine and 199g of MDMA tablets popularly called Ecstasy. Both drugs were tucked away inside sections of the purifier machines to avoid detection.

Babafemi explained that the interception was part of NDLEA’s intelligence-driven monitoring of courier and cargo routes, as traffickers increasingly use everyday items to smuggle drugs into the country.

Other major seizures reported by NDLEA:  

In Kaduna on May 24, a husband and wife, Musa Sunday and Mercy Sunday, were arrested with another suspect, Salomi Ezekiel, 38, after operatives recovered 100 large bags of skunk weighing over 1.2 tonnes from their Gonin Gora residence. That same day, officers on the Abuja-Kaduna expressway at Jere caught Sunusi Musa, 30, transporting 380 rounds of 7.62mm military ammunition believed to be destined for Katsina. He and the ammunition were transferred to the relevant security agency.

Still on May 27 in Niger State, NDLEA acted on a tip and raided a storehouse at Gidan Kukah, Bosso LGA, where 457kg of skunk was seized. Godwin Zakka, 46, was later picked up at his Gbeganu home in Minna over the find.

Then on May 28 in Enugu, a bus heading to Taraba was stopped along the Onitsha-Enugu road. A search turned up 22,000 tramadol tablets, 100 doses of pentazocine injection and 200g of bromazepam. The driver, James Maigari Wisdom, was taken into custody.

The agency said it will sustain surveillance on import and courier channels as smugglers keep changing tactics with new concealment tricks.