NDLEA rearrests 83-year-old grandma for drug trafficking, nabs S’African

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has rearrested an 83-year-old woman, Uloma Uchechi Sunday, for alleged drug trafficking, barely a year after she was convicted of the same offence, and arrested a South African woman with 32.74kg of cannabis in Rivers State.

The agency also intercepted large consignments of illicit drugs in Lagos, Taraba, Kano, Kaduna, Edo, Cross River and Ondo states, while recovering firearms and ammunition during a raid in Plateau State.

The NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, saying the octogenarian was arrested on Wednesday, October 7, at her residence in Ite-Uzo, Umuaguma, Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State.

“Her re-arrest followed credible intelligence indicating that she runs a notorious drug joint that harbours criminal elements who terrorise the community,” the statement partly read.

The statement recalled that she was first arrested on May 17, 2025, alongside her 32-year-old daughter, Chisom Uchechi, with 50g of methamphetamine, 522g of skunk, 260g of fresh cannabis leaves and 12g of tramadol.

According to the NDLEA, both women pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment or a fine of N200,000 each. They paid the fines and were released by the court.

“Undeterred, the notorious old woman promptly returned to the criminal trade and escalated the scale by setting up a drug joint where she harbours dangerous characters,” the agency added.

In Rivers State, NDLEA operatives, working with the Nigeria Customs Service, arrested a South African woman, Gebashe Sithandiwe Jessie, at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, with 30 parcels of Thai Loud, a cannabis strain weighing 32.74kg.

The drugs were concealed in two travelling bags.

“The suspect had travelled from Thailand via Doha aboard Qatar Airways flight QR1431. She confessed to having previously trafficked through other African countries, and was expanding her route to Port Harcourt when she was caught,” the statement read.

At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, operatives intercepted 354,000 tablets of tapentadol, each weighing 250mg, imported from Pakistan.

The 307.20kg consignment was discovered in nine cartons aboard a Royal Air Maroc flight after the shipment was placed under surveillance upon arrival on September 29. A joint examination conducted on October 6 uncovered the drugs.

In a separate operation, the agency intercepted 70 parcels of Colorado, weighing 75.90kg, concealed in six Ghana-Must-Go bags in a consolidated cargo from the United Kingdom.

Four suspects were arrested in connection with the seizure. They were identified as a 54-year-old clearing agent, John Edrah; a 54-year-old Uber driver, Taofiq Ajibola; Adetunji Adebayo; and a 48-year-old clothing trader, Kazeem Damola Dosunmu.

According to the statement, Ajibola said the drugs were sent by a UK-based associate, Lukman Sa’idu, while Dosunmu said his consignment came from another UK-based man identified as Yusuf.

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In Cross River State, operatives raided Iyala Nkun village in Ikom Local Government Area on October 4, arresting 46-year-old Adama Inuwa and recovering 181 bags of cannabis weighing 1,100kg, alongside 17.15kg of cannabis seeds.

In Edo State, three suspects — Monday Orji, 52; Monday Lawal, 40; and Precious Uduegele, 20 — were arrested after operatives intercepted a Toyota Camry conveying 1,049 blocks of compressed cannabis weighing 702.83kg at Otuo, Owan East Local Government Area.

Another suspect, Ojugo Mercy, 26, was arrested at Asoro, off Sakponba Road, Benin City, with 989g of Loud, 13g of Colorado and 83g of methamphetamine.

In Ondo State, operatives arrested 21-year-old Happy Endurance in the Shasha area of Akure on October 5, recovering 29 bags of cannabis weighing 290kg.

A separate raid at Oba-Ile, Akure, led to the arrest of Tunde Adebayo, 42, with 35 bags of cannabis weighing 351kg.

In Taraba State, two suspects, Abdulrasheed Mohamed, 31, and Abubakar Saidu, 37, were arrested at Chanchanji village, Wukari Local Government Area, on October 9, with 166,200 tablets of tramadol weighing 107kg.

Similarly, a stop-and-search operation along the Kano-Maiduguri Road led to the arrest of Yahaya Musa, 32, with 24,990 capsules of tramadol, 50,000 tablets of diazepam and 22,000 tablets of Exol-5.

In Kaduna State, operatives arrested Mohammed Musa, 29, along the Zaria-Kaduna Expressway with 31 jumbo bags and 775 blocks of skunk weighing a combined 1,027kg.

In Lagos, another suspect, Musbau Balogun Adekunle, was arrested in the Orile area on October 6 with 32.51kg of skunk and 52.65kg of cannabis seeds.

Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives recovered firearms and ammunition during a raid on the residence of Christian Chukwudi Uju, 45, at Rukuba Road, Jos, Plateau State, on October 8.

The items recovered included 47g 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.

Babafemi said the agency also sustained its War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation campaign in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities.

The NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa (retd.), commended the officers for their “professionalism and intelligence-driven approach to the various successful operations”.

He urged them and their colleagues nationwide to “continue with the current balanced approach to the drug control efforts of the agency”.