The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 34-year-old South African woman with 36.65 kilogrammes of cocaine at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
The agency also nabbed a 62-year-old Nigerian-American grandmother with 9.45kg of synthetic cannabis allegedly brought in from the United States.
The agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, noting that the arrests were part of anti-drug operations nationwide that yielded large seizures of illicit drugs and pharmaceutical opioids.
Babafemi said the South African, Qhina Beauty, was arrested on October 7 at the airport’s departure hall as she prepared to board a Qatar Airways flight to South Africa via Doha.
Operatives searching her two bags allegedly found 30 blocks of cocaine weighing 36.65kg. The consignment was mixed with dried pepper, wrapped in cellophane tape and packed in seven parcels.
Beauty reportedly told investigators she came to Nigeria on September 30 specifically to collect the drugs. She said another South African woman recruited her and promised to pay her R20,000 on successful delivery.
She also allegedly named two other members of the syndicate: one based in the United States and the other a Lagos car dealer.
Acting on the lead, NDLEA operatives arrested the car dealer, 46-year-old Uchenna Victor Umunnakwe, on October 14 at Apple Junction, Ago Palace Way, Lagos, after surveillance at his residence in Shasha.
Umunnakwe allegedly admitted receiving Beauty at the airport and lodging her at Santiago Hotel in Amuwo-Odofin. He then reportedly moved her to Cynarisso Hotel, near the airport, ahead of her planned departure.
Grandmother arrested with “loud”
In a separate operation at the same airport, NDLEA operatives arrested Anetor Gloria Ubong, 62, over the alleged importation of 9.45kg of synthetic cannabis, popularly known as “loud”.
The agency described Ubong as a realtor based in Richmond, Texas. She was arrested on October 21 after arriving from Houston on a United Airlines flight.
A search of her two checked-in boxes reportedly uncovered 18 parcels of the substance, hidden in a box wrapped in gift paper.
Ubong, who holds Nigerian and US passports, reportedly claimed her daughter and the daughter’s prospective brother-in-law delivered the package to her home in America to be passed on in Nigeria to her daughter’s fiancé, identified as Jibola.
