The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested an 83 year old grandmother in Abia State for the second time with consignments of methamphetamine and Colorado concealed around her waist, barely a year after she was convicted for a similar offence. Operatives also arrested a South African woman at Port Harcourt International Airport with a large shipment of Thai cannabis, while recording major seizures of illicit drugs and firearms in operations across Lagos, Taraba, Kano, Kaduna, Edo, Cross River, Ondo and Plateau States.
Mrs Uloma Uchechi Sunday was arrested on Wednesday 7 October 2026 at her home in Ite Uzo, Umuaguma, Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State. Quantities of methamphetamine and Colorado were tied to her waist with a wrapper. Intelligence indicated that she operated a drug joint used by criminal elements who terrorised the community.
Her earlier arrest occurred on 17 May 2025 at the same residence, when she and her daughter, Chisom Uchechi, aged 32, were found with 50 grams of methamphetamine, 522 grams of skunk, 260 grams of fresh cannabis leaves and 12 grams of tramadol. Both pleaded guilty and received 12 months’ imprisonment or a fine of N200,000 each. They paid the fine and were released. The octogenarian later returned to the trade and expanded her activities.
At Port Harcourt International Airport in Omagwa, Rivers State, operatives working with the Nigeria Customs Service arrested Gebashe Sithandiwe Jessie, a South African national, with 30 parcels of Thai Loud, a variety of cannabis, weighing 32.74 kilograms. The drugs were concealed in two travelling bags. She had travelled from Thailand via Doha on Qatar Airways flight QR1431. She confessed to previous trafficking through other African countries and said she was expanding her route to Port Harcourt when arrested.
At the Import Shed of Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos, operatives intercepted nine cartons from Pakistan that arrived on a Royal Air Maroc flight on 29 September. A joint examination on Tuesday 6 October uncovered 354,000 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg weighing 307.20 kilograms.
In a separate operation at the same airport, a consolidated cargo from the United Kingdom that arrived on 29 September was found to contain 70 parcels of Colorado, a synthetic cannabinoid, weighing 75.90 kilograms inside six Ghana Must Go bags. A clearing agent, John Edrah, aged 54, was arrested on 30 September. Taofiq Ajibola, aged 54, an Uber driver, was later arrested while collecting one bag at a logistics company in Mafoluku, Oshodi. Adetunji Adebayo and Kazeem Damola Dosunmu, aged 48, a clothing trader, were arrested when they came for the remaining bags. Ajibola stated that the drugs were sent by a United Kingdom based associate identified as Lukman Sa’idu, while Dosunmu said his consignments came from another United Kingdom based man identified as Yusuf.
In Cross River State, a raid on Iyala Nkun village in Ikom Local Government Area on Sunday 4 October led to the arrest of Adama Inuwa, aged 46, with 181 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 1,100 kilograms and 17.15 kilograms of cannabis seeds.
In Edo State, operatives intercepted a black Toyota Camry at Otuo in Owan East Local Government Area on Monday 5 October conveying 1,049 blocks of compressed cannabis weighing 702.83 kilograms. Monday Orji, aged 52, Monday Lawal, aged 40, and Precious Uduegele, aged 20, were arrested. In another raid, Ojugo Mercy, aged 26, was arrested at Asoro, off Sakponba Road in Benin City, with 989 grams of Loud, 13 grams of Colorado and 83 grams of methamphetamine.
In Ondo State, a 21 year old suspect named Happy Endurance was trailed to a hideout in the Shasha area of Akure on Monday 5 October, where 29 bags of cannabis weighing 290 kilograms were recovered. The same day, a raid on an apartment at Oba Ile in Akure led to the arrest of Tunde Adebayo, aged 42, with 35 bags of the same substance weighing 351 kilograms.
In Taraba State, operatives supported by soldiers arrested Abdulrasheed Mohamed, aged 31, and Abubakar Saidu, aged 37, at Chanchanji village in Wukari Local Government Area on Friday 9 October with 166,200 tablets of Tramadol 225mg weighing 107 kilograms. A stop and search operation along the Kano Maiduguri road in Kano on the same day led to the arrest of Yahaya Musa, aged 32, with 24,990 capsules of Tramadol, 50,000 tablets of Diazepam and 22,000 tablets of Exol 5.
In Kaduna State, operatives on patrol along the Zaria Kaduna expressway arrested Mohammed Musa, aged 29, with 31 jumbo bags of skunk and 775 blocks of the same substance, with a combined weight of 1,027 kilograms. In Orile, Lagos, Musbau Balogun Adekunle was arrested on Tuesday 6 October with 32.51 kilograms of skunk and 52.65 kilograms of its seeds, totalling 85.16 kilograms.
In Plateau State, a raid on the residence of Christian Chukwudi Uju, aged 45, at Rukuba Road in Jos on Thursday 8 October yielded 47 grams of methamphetamine, two pump action rifles, one locally made gun, 199 live cartridges, five rounds of 7.62mm ammunition and one round of 9mm ammunition.
Commands and formations of the Agency continued War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities during the past week. These included lectures at Progressive Grammar School in Tede, Oyo State; Ehugbo Technical College in Afikpo, Ebonyi State; Baptist High School in Lambata, Niger State; Madarasatul Tarbiyatul Islamiya in Galangalan Tudun Wada, Kano; Ipara Senior and Junior Community Secondary School in Badagry, Lagos; and Manbahu Ridwanullah Nursery and Primary School in Olomore, Abeokuta, Ogun State, among others.
Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, commended officers and men of the Lagos, MMIA, PHIA, Taraba, Kano, Kaduna, Edo, Cross River, Ondo and Plateau Commands for their professionalism and intelligence driven approach. He urged them and colleagues nationwide to maintain the current balanced approach to the Agency’s drug control efforts.
By A.Ikechukwu
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