The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a 62-year-old Nigerian-American grandmother and a 34-year-old South African woman in separate operations at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, over alleged attempts to traffic large quantities of cocaine and high-grade cannabis popularly known as “loud.”
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The agency also announced the recovery of large quantities of illicit drugs in separate operations across Lagos, Kano, Bauchi, Niger, Edo, Ondo, Taraba, Oyo and Delta states.
NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said the South African suspect, Qhina Beauty, was arrested at the departure hall of the Lagos airport on October 7, 2026, while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to South Africa through Doha.
According to the agency, a search of her two travelling bags led to the recovery of 30 blocks of cocaine weighing 36.65 kilograms.
The cocaine was allegedly concealed with dried pepper, wrapped in cellophane tape and packed into seven separate parcels.
Babafemi said the suspect told investigators that she arrived in Nigeria on September 30 specifically to collect the consignment.
According to the NDLEA, she allegedly claimed that she had been recruited by another South African woman who promised to pay her R20,000 after successful delivery of the drugs.
The agency said she also claimed to have been introduced to two other members of the alleged trafficking network — one based in the United States and another identified as a Lagos-based car dealer.
Further investigation, according to the NDLEA, led to the arrest of 46-year-old Uchenna Victor Umunnakwe on October 14.
He was intercepted at Apple Junction, Ago Palace Way, Lagos, following several days of surveillance around his residence in Shasha.
The agency alleged that Umunnakwe admitted receiving Qhina at the airport after her arrival in Nigeria, arranging accommodation for her at Santiago Hotel in Amuwo-Odofin and subsequently moving her to Cynarisso Hotel near the airport ahead of her planned departure.
In another operation at the Lagos airport, NDLEA officers arrested a 62-year-old woman, Anetor Gloria Ubong, described by the agency as a realtor based in Richmond, Texas, United States.
The NDLEA said Ubong, who holds Nigerian and United States passports, was arrested on Wednesday, October 21, following her arrival on a United Airlines flight from Houston.
A search of two checked-in boxes allegedly led to the discovery of 18 parcels of high-grade cannabis known as loud, weighing 9.45 kilograms.
According to the agency, the parcels were concealed in gift-wrapping paper inside one of the boxes.
Ubong allegedly told investigators that the box 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, identified simply as Jibola, in Nigeria.
The NDLEA also announced a series of other drug seizures across the country.
In Lagos, operatives of a special operations unit arrested 41-year-old Eletu Rasheedat in the Eti-Osa area on October 23.
The agency said officers recovered 5,820 pills of diazepam, 780 tablets of tramadol, 3.7 kilograms of skunk and 230.25 litres of a psychoactive mixture known as skuchies.
In Delta State, 51-year-old Peter Ugochukwu was arrested in Warri with what the agency described as a large quantity of pharmaceutical opioids.
The recovered substances allegedly included 29,350 capsules of tramadol, 6,620 tablets of tramadol 200mg, 4,116 bottles of codeine syrup, 11,340 tablets of Rohypnol, 3,500 tablets of diazepam, 300 ampoules of pentazocine injection and 200 ampoules of diazepam injection.
Other quantities of tramadol 225mg, Molly and Cocodamol were also said to have been recovered.
Ugochukwu was transferred to the NDLEA alongside a white Hummer bus by the Nigeria Police Force in Delta State.
In a separate operation at Enhere Junction, Warri, NDLEA operatives arrested a 46-year-old physically challenged woman, Helen Bakporo Samson, on October 19 with six kilograms of skunk.
In Oyo State, the agency said 41-year-old Fajana Dada Oluwaseyi was arrested in Adamasingba, Ibadan, on October 19.
According to the NDLEA, the suspect had earlier escaped arrest when its officers recovered 197.8 kilograms of cannabis sativa from his residence on September 16.
In Kano State, a raid in the Gerawa area on October 22 resulted in the arrest of 30-year-old Murtala Lawan and the seizure of 159 blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 97.2 kilograms.
At the Lankaviri checkpoint in Yorro Local Government Area of Taraba State, NDLEA officers arrested 39-year-old Raiyanu Misa on October 23 with 95 blocks of compressed cannabis weighing 60.175 kilograms.
On the same day, the Nigeria Police Force handed over another suspect arrested at Dakka village in Bali Local Government Area with 112 blocks of compressed cannabis weighing 81.49 kilograms.
In Niger State, NDLEA operatives arrested Emmanuel Ekene, 26, along the Sabo-Kainji Road in Borgu Local Government Area on October 19.
The agency said 64,000 opioid pills, including tramadol and diazepam, were recovered from him.
In Bauchi State, officers arrested 45-year-old Jamilu Mustapha, also known as “Last Card,” at Nasaru Town in Ningi Local Government Area on October 21.
The NDLEA said seven jumbo sacks containing 379 kilograms of cannabis sativa were seized during the operation.
In Ondo State, officers acting on intelligence raided a farm at Board-Ala in Akure South Local Government Area on October 20 and recovered 56 bags of abandoned cannabis sativa weighing 583 kilograms.
In Edo State, NDLEA operatives destroyed two cannabis farms in Ugbada Forest, Uzebba, Owan West Local Government Area, with an estimated yield of 2,023.14 kilograms.
The operation took place on October 18.
The agency said officers also destroyed 450 kilograms of processed cannabis at the site and took 97 kilograms as exhibits.
In a related operation at Ewe community in Owan West, 42-year-old Mary Edokhai was arrested with 35 kilograms of cannabis.
Alongside the enforcement operations, NDLEA commands and formations across the country continued activities under the agency’s War Against Drug Abuse campaign.
The sensitisation programmes were taken to schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities.
Among the institutions reached were Oje Grammar School, Ibadan, Oyo State; Government Day Secondary School, Kwamba, Niger State; Baptist Primary School, Olorunda, Ogun State; Government Secondary School, Yalea, Kano State; Community Secondary School, Igogoro, Enugu State; Urban Girls Secondary School, Onitsha, Anambra State; and Kelebe Community Grammar School, Osogbo, Osun State.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers of the MMIA, Kano, Lagos, Bauchi, Niger, Edo, Ondo, Taraba, Oyo and Delta commands for what he described as their vigilance, diligence, professionalism and intelligence-driven approach to the operations.
Marwa urged officers and personnel across the country to sustain the momentum in the agency’s campaign against drug trafficking and substance abuse.
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