Sunday, October 11, 2026 -The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has rearrested an 83-year-old woman, Uloma Uchechi Sunday with consignments of methamphetamine and Colorado, barely a year after she was convicted for drug-related offences.
The agency also arrested a South African woman, Gebashe
Sithandiwe Jessie, with 32.74kg of cannabis at the Port Harcourt International
Airport, Rivers State.
NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a
statement on Sunday, detailing several drug seizures and arrests across the
country.
According to the statement, Uloma was arrested on Wednesday,
October 7, 2026, at her residence in Ite-Uzo, Umuaguma, Obingwa Local
Government Area of Abia State.
She was allegedly found with quantities of methamphetamine
and Colorado tied around her waist with a wrapper.
Babafemi said her arrest followed intelligence reports
indicating that she operated a notorious drug joint where criminal elements
allegedly gathered and terrorised residents of the community.
The octogenarian was first arrested on May 17, 2025,
alongside her 32-year-old daughter, Chisom Uchechi, at the same residence.
The NDLEA said the operatives recovered 50 grammes of
methamphetamine, 522 grammes of skunk, 260 grammes of fresh cannabis leaves and
12 grammes of tramadol from them.
Both women reportedly pleaded guilty and were sentenced to
12 months’ imprisonment or an option of a N200,000 fine each. They paid the
fines and were released.
However, the agency alleged that Uloma returned to the
illicit drug trade after her release and subsequently established a drug joint.
At the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, NDLEA
operatives, working with officers of the Nigeria Customs Service, arrested a
South African woman, Gebashe Sithandiwe Jessie, with 30 parcels of Thai Loud
weighing 32.74kg.
The cannabis was allegedly concealed in two travelling bags.
The suspect reportedly arrived from Thailand through Doha
aboard a Qatar Airways flight, QR1431.
According to the statement, she confessed to previously
trafficking drugs through other African countries and said she was expanding
her routes to Port Harcourt when she was arrested.
At the Import Shed of the Murtala Muhammed International
Airport, Ikeja, Lagos State, operatives intercepted nine cartons of
pharmaceutical products shipped from Pakistan aboard a Royal Air Maroc flight.
The consignment was placed under surveillance after arriving
on September 29. A joint examination conducted on Tuesday, October 6, uncovered
354,000 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg weighing 307.20kg.
In a separate operation at the Lagos airport, the agency
intercepted a consolidated cargo from the United Kingdom containing 70 parcels
of Colorado weighing 75.90kg.
The drugs were concealed in six Ghana-Must-Go bags that
arrived on September 29.
A clearing agent, John Edrah, 54, was arrested on September
30, while an Uber driver, Taofiq Ajibola, 54, was apprehended while attempting
to collect one of the bags at a logistics company in Mafoluku, Oshodi.
Two other suspects, Adetunji Adebayo and Kazeem Damola
Dosunmu, 48, a clothing trader, were subsequently arrested while allegedly
collecting the remaining five bags.
Ajibola reportedly told investigators that the drugs were
sent by an associate based in the United Kingdom, identified as Lukman Sa’idu,
while Dosunmu said his consignment came from another UK-based individual
identified as Yusuf.
In Cross River State, NDLEA operatives arrested 46-year-old
Adama Inuwa during a raid on Iyala Nkun village, Ikom Local Government Area, on
Sunday, October 4.
The operation led to the recovery of 181 bags of cannabis
weighing 1,100kg and 17.15kg of cannabis seeds.
In Edo State, operatives intercepted a black Toyota Camry
conveying 1,049 blocks of compressed cannabis weighing 702.83kg at Otuo, Owan
East Local Government Area, on Monday, October 5.
Three suspects, identified as Monday Orji, 52; Monday Lawal,
40; and Precious Uduegele, 20, were arrested in connection with the seizure.
In another operation in the state, 26-year-old Ojugo Mercy
was arrested at Asoro, off Sakponba Road, Benin City, with 989 grammes of Loud,
13 grammes of Colorado and 83 grammes of methamphetamine.
In Ondo State, a 21-year-old suspect, Happy Endurance, was
arrested at her hideout in the Shasha area of Akure on Monday, October 5,
following surveillance by NDLEA operatives.
The officers recovered 29 bags of cannabis weighing 290kg
from her.
Another raid on an apartment in Oba-Ile, Akure, the same day
led to the arrest of 42-year-old Tunde Adebayo, with 35 bags of cannabis
weighing 351kg.
In Taraba State, NDLEA operatives, supported by soldiers,
arrested Abdulrasheed Mohamed, 31, and Abubakar Saidu, 37, at Chanchanji
village, Wukari Local Government Area, on Friday, October 9.
The suspects were allegedly found with 166,200 tablets of
Tramadol 225mg weighing 107kg.
Similarly, a stop-and-search operation along the
Kano-Maiduguri Road in Kano State on October 9 led to the arrest of 32-year-old
Yahaya Musa.
The agency said 24,990 capsules of tramadol, 50,000 tablets
of diazepam and 22,000 tablets of Exol-5 were recovered from him.
In Kaduna State, operatives patrolling the Zaria-Kaduna
Expressway arrested 29-year-old Mohammed Musa with 31 jumbo bags of skunk and
775 blocks of the same substance, weighing 1,027kg combined.
At Orile, Lagos State, a suspect, Musbau Balogun Adekunle,
was arrested on Tuesday, October 6, with 32.51kg of skunk and 52.65kg of
cannabis seeds, bringing the total seizure to 85.16kg.
In Plateau State, NDLEA operatives raided the residence of
45-year-old Christian Chukwudi Uju at Rukuba Road, Jos, on Thursday, October 8.
The operation led to the recovery of 47 grammes of
methamphetamine, two pump-action rifles, one locally made gun, 199 live
cartridges, five rounds of 7.62mm ammunition and one round of 9mm ammunition.
The agency also continued its War Against Drug Abuse
sensitisation campaign across schools, religious centres, workplaces and
communities during the week under review.
The activities included enlightenment lectures at
Progressive Grammar School, Tede, Oyo State; Ehugbo Technical College, Afikpo,
Ebonyi State; Baptist High School, Lambata, Niger State; Madarasatul Tarbiyatul
Islamiya, Galangalan Tudun Wada, Kano State; Ipara Senior and Junior Community
Secondary School, Badagry, Lagos State; and Manbahu Ridwanullah Nursery and
Primary School, Olomore, Abeokuta, Ogun State, among others.
Commending officers and men of the Lagos, Murtala Muhammed
International Airport, Port Harcourt International Airport, Taraba, Kano,
Kaduna, Edo, Cross River, Ondo and Plateau commands for the operations, NDLEA
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.),
urged them to sustain their efforts.
Marwa called on officers across the country to maintain what
he described as a balanced approach to the agency’s drug control activities.
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