NDLEA arrests South African woman with 36.65kg cocaine, Lagos car dealer

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a South African woman with 36.65kg of cocaine at Lagos airport and a Lagos-based car dealer accused of receiving and arranging accommodation for her.

The agency also arrested a Nigerian-American woman with 9.45kg of cannabis known as loud after she arrived in Nigeria from the United States.

In a statement shared with PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday, NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi identified the South African woman as Qhina Beauty, 34.

He explained that she was arrested on 7 October at the departure hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, while preparing to board a Qatar Airways flight to South Africa via Doha.

A search of her two bags uncovered 30 blocks of cocaine weighing 36.65kg, the NDLEA said, adding that the drugs were wrapped in Sellotape, divided into seven parcels and laced with dried pepper.

Ms Beauty reportedly told investigators that she arrived in Nigeria on 30 September to collect the consignment. She said another South African woman recruited her and promised to pay her 20,000 rand after delivery.

She also identified two other people allegedly involved in the operation: one based in the United States and the other a Lagos car dealer, the statement said.

The agency said it arrested the dealer, Uchenna Victor Umunnakwe, 46, on 14 October at Apple Junction, Ago Palace Way, Lagos, after keeping him under surveillance at his residence in Shasha.

Mr Umunnakwe reportedly admitted receiving Ms Beauty at the airport and arranging her stay at Santiago Hotel in Amuwo-Odofin.

The agency noted that he later moved her to Cynarisso Hotel near the airport ahead of her departure.

The arrests come about two months after the NDLEA announced the seizure of 184.5kg of cocaine, valued at an estimated N39 billion, in Lagos.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that the cocaine was intercepted while being prepared for export through a courier logistics company. The operation led to the arrests of Kazeem Afolabi, popularly known as KC Luxury, and Lawal Kehinde, a logistics company employee.

The NDLEA described Mr Afolabi as the alleged Nigerian coordinator of an international drug trafficking syndicate.

It said the network used Nigeria as a transit point to move cocaine from South America to the United Kingdom, other parts of Europe and Asia.

The agency described the seizure as the largest interception of cocaine through a courier channel in its history.

In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives arrested Anetor Gloria Ubong, 62, a realtor based in Richmond, Texas, at Lagos airport on 21 October after she arrived on a United Airlines flight from Houston.

Ms Ubong, who holds Nigerian and United States passports, had 18 parcels of Loud weighing 9.45kg in one of her two checked-in boxes. The drugs were concealed in a box covered with gift-wrapping paper.

According to the agency, she told investigators that her daughter and her daughter’s future brother-in-law had delivered the box to her home in the US. She said she was to deliver it in Nigeria to her daughter’s fiancé, identified as Jibola.

In another operation in Lagos, a special unit of the agency arrested Eletu Rasheedat, 41, in the Eti Osa area on 23 October.

The operatives recovered 5,820 pills of diazepam, 780 tablets of tramadol, 3.7kg of skunk and 230.25 litres of skuchies.

In Delta State, operatives arrested Peter Ugochukwu, 51, in Warri and recovered thousands of opioid capsules and tablets, bottles of codeine syrup and other substances.

The seizures included 29,350 capsules of tramadol, 6,620 tablets of tramadol 200mg, 4,116 bottles of codeine syrup, 11,340 tablets of Rohypnol and 3,500 tablets of diazepam.

Officers also recovered 300 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 200 ampoules of diazepam injection, and quantities of tramadol 225mg, Molly and Cocodamol.

The NDLEA said the suspect and a white Hummer bus were handed over to the agency by the Nigeria Police Force in Delta State.

In a separate operation at Enhere Junction, Warri, officers arrested Helen Bakporo Samson, 46, on 19 October with 6kg of skunk.

In Oyo State, operatives arrested Fajana Dada Oluwaseyi, 41, in the Adamasingba area of Ibadan on 19 October. The agency said he had escaped arrest after officers seized 197.8kg of cannabis from his house on 16 September.

In Kano State, a raid in Gerawa on 22 October led to the arrest of Murtala Lawan, 30, and the seizure of 159 blocks of cannabis weighing 97.2kg.

In Taraba State, operatives arrested Raiyanu Misa, 39, at the Lankaviri checkpoint in Yorro Local Government Area on 23 October with 95 blocks of compressed cannabis weighing 60.175kg.

On the same day, the police handed over another suspect to the NDLEA after arresting him at Dakka village in Bali Local Government Area with 112 blocks of cannabis weighing 81.49kg.

In Niger State, officers arrested Emmanuel Ekene, 26, on the Sabo-Kainji Road in Borgu Local Government Area on 19 October with 64,000 opioid pills, including tramadol and diazepam.

In Bauchi State, operatives arrested Jamilu Mustapha, also known as Last Card, 45, at Nasaru Town in Ningi Local Government Area on 21 October. They recovered 379kg of cannabis packed in seven sacks.

In Ondo State, operatives raided a farm at Board-Ala, Akure South, on 20 October and recovered 56 abandoned bags of cannabis weighing 583kg.

In Edo State, the agency destroyed two cannabis farms in Ugbada Forest, Uzebba, Owan West Local Government Area, on 18 October. The farms had an estimated yield of 2,023.14kg.

The operatives burnt 450kg of processed cannabis at the site and took another 97kg as exhibits.

In a separate operation at Ewe community in Owan West, officers arrested Mary Edokhai, 42, with 35kg of cannabis.

The NDLEA chairman, Buba Marwa, commended the officers involved in the operations and urged them to sustain efforts against drug trafficking and substance abuse.

The agency also said its commands continued public awareness campaigns under its War Against Drug Abuse programme, including sessions for students and school staff.