NDLEA arrests China-bound businesswoman with 7.5kg cocaine, seizes N12.3bn cannabis in Lagos

By Adebola Isimijola, Lagos

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a businesswoman, Iwebema Ogechi Peace, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, for allegedly attempting to smuggle 7.5 kilograms of cocaine to China, while also seizing a 4,959-kilogram consignment of Canadian Loud cannabis valued at N12.397 billion at the Apapa Port.

The agency also dismantled a drug trafficking syndicate accused of planting illicit drugs in the luggage of unsuspecting passengers at motor parks and arrested three suspected transnational traffickers with 558,900 pills of Tramadol concealed in a specially fabricated compartment of a truck.

NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Mr Femi Babafemi, disclosed the arrests and seizures in a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja.

According to the statement, Iwebema, 38, was arrested on June 21 while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to Beijing, China, through the Lagos airport.

The agency said a search of her checked luggage uncovered four parcels of cocaine weighing 7.5 kilograms concealed in a professionally constructed false bottom of the suitcase.

The suspect reportedly told investigators that she travelled regularly to China to purchase goods for resale in Nigeria.

Babafemi also disclosed that NDLEA operatives, after weeks of intelligence-led surveillance, intercepted a container at the Apapa Port containing 4,959 kilograms of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, with an estimated street value of N12.397 billion.

He said the illicit consignment, hidden inside a 40-foot container carrying two vehicles, was recovered during a joint examination involving NDLEA officers, the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies.

In another operation, the agency uncovered a syndicate that allegedly concealed methamphetamine inside the luggage of unsuspecting interstate travellers.

The investigation began after operatives intercepted a commercial bus travelling from Nnewi, Anambra State, to Abuja and recovered a package containing 467.7 grams of methamphetamine. Follow-up investigations led to the arrest of the alleged owner of the consignment after the passenger in whose luggage the drugs were hidden denied ownership.

The agency further said its operatives arrested 57-year-old Ikechukwu Uwakwe at the Iddo Motor Park in Lagos with 209.5 kilograms of Scottish Loud allegedly bound for Enugu State.

Three suspected transnational traffickers—two citizens of the Benin Republic and a Nigerian—were also arrested after NDLEA operatives intercepted a truck conveying 558,900 pills of Tramadol 250mg concealed in a fabricated compartment.

In separate operations, the agency arrested two other suspects transporting 118 kilograms of skunk along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, while two women were apprehended in Amukoko, Lagos, with 28.8 kilograms of the same illicit substance.

Beyond enforcement, the agency said it sustained its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaign in schools and communities across Yobe, Lagos, Kano, Kogi and Enugu states.

Commending officers involved in the operations, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), urged personnel to sustain the momentum.

He said the agency’s successes in reducing the supply of illicit drugs must continue to be matched with public enlightenment through the WADA campaign.