A commercial bus driver in Lagos narrowly escaped prosecution after the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) discovered cocaine and methamphetamine concealed in an energy drink bottle he was conveying to Ondo State.
The NDLEA Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a post on his X page on Sunday, warning commercial drivers and members of the public against accepting parcels whose contents they cannot verify.
Babafemi said the driver was given a bottle of Fearless energy drink in Lagos as a waybill package for delivery in Ondo State.
According to him, the driver believed the parcel contained an energy drink until NDLEA operatives discovered that the bottle had been used to conceal illicit substances identified as cocaine and methamphetamine.
He said the driver spent some time in custody and could have ended up in jail, but was eventually spared after the agency traced and arrested the person who handed the parcel to him.
Babafemi, who shared a video of the incident, said the driver was fortunate because he assumed the bottle contained what its label suggested.
He warned that others might not be as lucky, stressing that ignorance of a parcel’s contents may not protect a person from legal consequences.
“A commercial bus driver spent some time in custody and would have ended in jail because he assumed a bottle of fearless energy drink given him as a waybill package in Lagos to deliver in Ondo state actually contains energy drink,” he wrote.
“Your own case may be devoid of such luck and you go in for it.”
The NDLEA spokesman urged drivers and other people involved in parcel delivery to avoid accepting packages whose contents they cannot establish.
He said possession of illicit drugs could make a person culpable under the law, regardless of whether they were aware of what was contained in the parcel.
