Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 62-year-old Nigerian-American grandmother with 9.45kg of cannabis known as loud and a 34-year-old South African woman with 36.65kg of cocaine at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
The agency disclosed this on Sunday in a statement by its spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, adding that the arrests were part of nationwide operations that led to major drug seizures across several states.
The South African suspect, identified as Qhina Beauty, was arrested on October 7 while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to South Africa via Doha. A search of her luggage reportedly uncovered 30 blocks of cocaine concealed in seven parcels and mixed with dried pepper.
According to the NDLEA, Beauty told investigators she had travelled to Nigeria to collect the drugs and was promised 20,000 South African rand for delivering them. Further investigations led to the arrest of a 46-year-old Lagos car dealer, Uchenna Victor Umunnakwe, on October 14 over his alleged role in the operation.
In a separate operation on October 21, officers arrested Anetor Gloria Ubong, a Texas-based realtor who holds Nigerian and US passports, after she arrived from Houston. The agency said 18 parcels of loud were found concealed in one of her checked-in boxes.
Ubong reportedly told investigators that her daughter and the daughter’s future brother-in-law had delivered the box to her home in the US for onward delivery to her daughter’s fiancé in Nigeria.
Beyond the airport arrests, the NDLEA reported further seizures and arrests across the country.
In Lagos, operatives recovered thousands of tablets of diazepam and tramadol, cannabis and 230.25 litres of skuchies. In Delta State, officers arrested Peter Ugochukwu, 51, in Warri, where they seized thousands of tramadol capsules, codeine syrup bottles, Rohypnol tablets and other pharmaceutical opioids.
Other operations led to the seizure of 583kg of cannabis in Ondo State, 379kg in Bauchi, 97.2kg in Kano and additional consignments in Taraba, Niger, Edo and Oyo states. The agency also reported the destruction of two cannabis farms in Edo State.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers involved in the operations and urged them to sustain efforts against drug trafficking and substance abuse.
