National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 34-year-old South African woman, Qhina Beauty, with 36.65kg of cocaine and a 62-year-old Nigerian-American woman, Anetor Gloria Ubong, with 9.45kg of cannabis at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
In a statement on Sunday, the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said Beauty was arrested on October 7 while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to South Africa via Doha.
During interrogation, she reportedly told investigators that she had been recruited to transport the drugs in exchange for 20,000 South African rand.
Further investigations led to the arrest of a Lagos-based car dealer, Uchenna Victor Umunnakwe, on October 14 over his alleged involvement in the operation.
Ubong, a realtor based in Richmond, Texas, was arrested on October 21 after arriving from Houston on a United Airlines flight.
NDLEA operatives allegedly discovered 9.45kg of cannabis, popularly known as loud, concealed in a box among her luggage.
The agency said she claimed the package had been delivered to her residence in the United States by her daughter and her daughter’s prospective brother-in-law for onward delivery to her daughter’s fiancé in Nigeria.
NDLEA seizes drugs in nationwide operations
In separate operations, NDLEA operatives arrested several suspects and seized large quantities of illicit drugs across Lagos, Delta, Kano, Taraba, Niger, Bauchi, Ondo, Edo and Oyo states.
The seizures included thousands of tramadol and diazepam pills, codeine syrup, compressed cannabis and other controlled substances. In Ondo State, officers recovered 583kg of abandoned cannabis, while two cannabis farms with an estimated yield of 2,023.14kg were destroyed in Edo State.
In Delta State, a 46-year-old woman with a physical disability, Helen Bakporo Samson, was arrested in Warri with 6kg of skunk cannabis.
Another suspect, 51-year-old Peter Ugochukwu, was arrested with a large consignment of pharmaceutical opioids and other drugs.
NDLEA intensifies drug abuse awareness campaign
The agency also continued its War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation campaign in schools and communities across several states.
The NDLEA chairman, retired Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended officers involved in the operations and urged them to sustain their efforts to combat drug trafficking and substance abuse.
RN
