The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 101-year-old woman for alleged drug trafficking as operatives uncovered cocaine concealed inside cassava fufu in Akwa Ibom State.
The agency said the arrest of Esther Ogunmabo, 101, was made on August 15 in Ilisan, Ogun State, where she was allegedly found with 90 grammes of skunk packaged in retail sachets.
According to the NDLEA, the centenarian said she turned to drug dealing after her provisions shop was destroyed by fire and that her daughter supplied her with the drugs.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa (retd.), ordered that Ogunmabo be granted bail and placed on counselling due to her age, while her daughter was arrested.
In Akwa Ibom, operatives intercepted a wooden boat allegedly transporting illicit drugs to fishing settlements in Cameroon.
Three suspects were arrested, including 27-year-old Kingsley Effiong John, who was allegedly found with 20 grammes of cocaine concealed inside a wrap of edible fufu, alongside 435 grammes of skunk.
The operation led to the recovery of 42.622kg of narcotics.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives seized 1,490.5kg of synthetic cannabis, known as “Loud”, worth more than ₦4.4bn at the Apapa and Lekki ports in Lagos.
The agency said the seizures marked its first interception of drugs shipped into Nigeria from Thailand through a maritime route.
At Apapa Port, a container declared to contain dry fish, rice, spare parts, soap and inverter batteries was found to contain 1,090.5kg of Loud packed in 2,181 sachets.
Another 400kg of the substance was recovered from a watchlisted container at Lekki Deep Sea Port, concealed beneath 798 reams of A4 paper.
Other operations across the country resulted in the seizure of thousands of tramadol pills, methamphetamine, cannabis and other controlled substances, as well as the destruction of a four-hectare cannabis farm in Ondo State.
The NDLEA said it also continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaign across several states.
Marwa commended the agency’s operatives for the seizures and arrests, urging them to maintain what he described as a balanced approach to drug control.
