Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have recorded significant breakthroughs across the country, including the arrest of a 101-year-old great grandma for allegedly dealing in illicit drugs.
The agency also succeeded in intercepting cocaine concealed in edible cassava flour, popularly known as fufu
This was as ₦4.4bn worth of Loud seized at Apapa, Lekki ports in Lagos, while consignments of meth, skunk, opioids were recovered in sweeps across Seme, Akwa Ibom, Ondo, Oyo, Kwara, Kano, Abia and FCT.
All these were contained in a press release, on Sunday, by the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi.
101-year-old great grandma on bail
In a rare and startling development, NDLEA operatives on Saturday, 15 August, 2026, arrested the 101-year-old woman, Esther Ogunmabo, in Ilisan, Ogun State, with retail sachets of skunk, a strain of cannabis weighing 90 grams, which she claimed she was selling to locals.
The centenarian reportedly told operatives that she resorted to the illicit drug trade after her provisions shop was razed by fire.
She also disclosed that one of her daughters, who resides in Lagos, arranged the supply of the substance to her every four days, which she in turn sold in bits.
NDLEA Chairman/CEO, Brig Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), has however directed that the suspect be granted bail and placed on counselling because of her advanced age, while her daughter has been arrested.
In a related development, NDLEA operatives in Akwa Ibom State, acting on credible intelligence, last Friday, intercepted a wooden boat on the high seas conveying illicit drugs to fishing settlements in the Republic of Cameroon.
Three suspects, caught with a total of 42.622kg of narcotics, were arrested on board the boat, which was heading to Ine Isu, Ine Mbah and Ine Ikot Itie Udung fishing ports in Cameroon.
They included Etima Effiong Eekpo (29), caught with 1.120kg skunk; Otobong Eyoh Etukudoh (33), with 42.060kg of skunk in his possession; and 27-year-old Kingsley Effiong John, found with 20grams of cocaine cleverly concealed inside a large wrap of edible cassava fufu, alongside 435grams of skunk.
In the history of the nation’s maritime space, the agency recorded its first-ever seizure of illicit drugs shipped from Thailand through the maritime corridor.
This followed the interception of two containers of cannabis indica, also known as Loud, at the Apapa and Lekki ports, with a combined street value put at over ₦4.4 billion.
Both containers were loaded at the Port of Laem Chabang, Thailand, underscoring the emergence of a new trafficking route being exploited by drug syndicates to smuggle synthetic cannabis into the country.
At the Apapa Port, a container, declared to be conveying dry fish, rice, vehicle spare parts, turmeric soap and inverter batteries, was found, during a joint examination of the shipment, last Friday, by NDLEA, Customs and others.
The container was found to contain 1,090.5kg of Thai Loud packed in 54 cartons comprising 2,181 sachets of 500 grams each.
At the Lekki Deep Sea Port, a similar container, which had been placed on the agency’s watchlist and monitored by its Marine Special Operations Unit, was jointly examined last Wednesday.
Of the seven pallets found in the container wrapped in black nylon, four were confirmed to be laced with Thai Loud, yielding 96 cartons made up of 400 parcels weighing a total of 400kg.
The remaining three pallets contained 798 rims of A4 paper, which had been used as cover for the consignment.
In the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, NDLEA operatives, last Saturday, intercepted three waybill packages containing 24,410 pills of tramadol capsules inside a hummer bus travelling from Enugu to Zuba.
A follow-up operation conducted in Niger State led to the arrest of the owner of the consignment, Sunday Eze (28), in Kontagora, after which he was transferred to Abuja.
Operatives in Ondo State, last Wednesday, raided a cannabis farm at Ijare Forest, Ifedore Local Government Area.
The arrest was a follow-up to the earlier arrest of three suspected cannabis planters at the same location on 16th August.
The NDLEA operatives destroyed a total of 10,000kg of skunk cultivated across four hectares of the forest.
In a separate operation in the state, operatives, same day at Ita-Ogbolu, Akure North LGA, recovered 210kg skunk and a Toyota Camry car with registration number AGL 223 JH belonging to Sylvester Dibiagu Anthony, who is currently at large.
In Kwara State, NDLEA operatives on patrol along the Ogbomosho-Ilorin Expressway, Ilorin, last Friday, intercepted a Toyota Starlet car without a registration number.
A search of the vehicle led to the recovery of 1.325kg of methamphetamine, wrapped in black nylon bags, alongside quantities of cannabis sativa.
One suspect, Muhammadu Usman (22), was arrested in connection with the seizure.
A 65-year-old woman, Adebayo Kaosarat, was arrested at Akobo-Ojuirin area of Ibadan, Oyo State, last Friday.
She was caught with a cocktail of substances comprising 1.795kg of Scottish Loud, 1.66kg of tramadol, 600g of codeine syrup, 125g of diazepam and 50g of flunitrazepam, totalling 4.68kg.
A raid at Hadeija Road, Kano, last Monday, led to the arrest of Chibuzor Madueke with 98 blocks of skunk weighing 73.3kg recovered from him.
A similar operation by NDLEA operatives at Seme, Badagry area of Lagos led to the arrest of three family members: Nasiru Tijjani (52); Moshood Tijjani (27); and Salami Tijjani (27), at Ashipa area, near the Seme Border, with 48kg of skunk.
In Abia State, NDLEA officers, last Thursday, raided the residence of Ikechukwu Anthony Iwuno (36) at Umuobia Olokoro area of Umuahia South LGA, where 14.4kg Loud, 2.3kg Colorado, 386grams of tramadol and 134grams of rohypnol were recovered.
With the same vigour, commands and formations of the agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities to schools, worship centres, work places and communities among others in the past week.
These included WADA enlightenment lecture to students and staff of Umar Bn Khattab College for Islamic Studies, Ungogo LGA, Kano; Markaz Al-Furqan Centre of Islamic and Arabic Teaching, Kishi, Oyo State;
School of Nursing and Midwifery, Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State; Mu’assasah Tahfizui Qur’an Islamiya School, Ibi, Taraba; and members of the Scout Association of Nigeria at the first National Youth Camp, Benin City, Edo State.
The Idiroko Special Area Command of NDLEA paid a WADA advocacy visit to the chairman of Ipokia Local Government Area, Ogun State, Hon. Johnson Avoseh, among others.
NDLEA Chairman/CEO, Brig. Gen. Marwa, has commended the officers and men of Ogun, Apapa, Lekki, Seme, Akwa Ibom, Ondo, Oyo, Kwara, Kano, Abia and FCT commands for the various successful operations.
He enjoined them and their colleagues across the country to continue with the current balanced approach to the drug control efforts of the agency.
