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The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intensified its crackdown on drug trafficking, arresting a 101-year-old woman for alleged drug dealing while intercepting cocaine concealed in edible cassava flour (fufu) and seizing consignments of synthetic cannabis valued at over N4.4 billion at the Apapa and Lekki seaports in Lagos.
NDLEA said the century-old suspect, Esther Ogunmabo, was arrested on August 15 in Ilisan, Ogun State, with 90 grams of skunk packaged for retail sale. She reportedly told investigators that she turned to the illicit drug trade after her provisions store was destroyed by fire, while her daughter in Lagos allegedly supplied the drugs every four days. NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), directed that the elderly woman be granted bail and enrolled for counselling because of her age, while her daughter has been taken into custody.
In Akwa Ibom State, operatives intercepted a wooden boat transporting illicit drugs to fishing settlements in the Republic of Cameroon. Three suspects were arrested with 42.622 kilograms of narcotics, including skunk and cocaine. The agency said 20 grams of cocaine was ingeniously concealed inside a wrap of cassava flour popularly known as fufu.
The agency also recorded what it described as its first seizure of illicit drugs smuggled from Thailand through Nigeria's maritime corridor. At the Apapa Port, officials uncovered 1,090.5 kilograms of Thai Loud hidden inside a container declared to contain dry fish, rice, vehicle spare parts, soap and inverter batteries. At the Lekki Deep Sea Port, another 400 kilograms of the same substance was discovered concealed beneath pallets of A4 paper. The combined street value of the seized drugs was estimated at over N4.4 billion.
In the Federal Capital Territory, NDLEA operatives intercepted 24,410 tramadol capsules hidden in waybill packages aboard a commercial bus travelling from Enugu to Abuja. A follow-up operation led to the arrest of the suspected owner, Sunday Eze, in Kontagora, Niger State.
The agency also reported major operations in Ondo, where officers destroyed 10,000 kilograms of cannabis cultivated on four hectares of farmland in Ijare Forest, and recovered an additional 210 kilograms of skunk during another raid. In Kwara State, a 22-year-old suspect was arrested with 1.325 kilograms of methamphetamine and cannabis concealed in a vehicle intercepted along the Ogbomosho-Ilorin Expressway.
Further operations led to the arrest of a 65-year-old woman in Ibadan with different illicit substances, including Scottish Loud, tramadol, codeine syrup, diazepam and flunitrazepam. In Kano, a suspect was apprehended with 73.3 kilograms of skunk, while three members of the same family were arrested near the Seme border in Lagos with 48 kilograms of skunk. In Abia State, NDLEA officers recovered Loud, Colorado, tramadol and rohypnol during a raid on a residence in Umuahia South Local Government Area.
Beyond enforcement, the agency said it sustained its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign through sensitisation programmes in schools, religious institutions and communities across several states, reaffirming its commitment to reducing drug abuse and trafficking nationwide.
