A British-Nigerian grandmother has been arrested at Murtala Muhammed airport in Lagos after being caught attempting to board a London-bound flight with cocaine estimated to be worth more than £1 million. Care worker Mary Yetunde Barek, 67, who lives in the UK, was stopped in the departure lounge and found to be carrying around 13kg of narcotics concealed within plantain peels, which had been disguised to look like real plantains and packed among other food items.

According to Nigeria's National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Barek, originally from Ondo state, was apprehended on 29 June as she tried to board a Virgin Atlantic flight to Heathrow, and reportedly admitted full ownership of the drugs. Footage released by the agency showed officers searching two suitcases and slicing into the plantain peels to reveal packaged powder inside. The case follows a separate incident in which a British mother, 47, and her daughter, 19, were arrested at a Spanish airport, allegedly attempting to fly back to the UK with 42kg of cocaine in their luggage.