Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 101-year-old great-grandmother, Esther Ogunmabo, for allegedly dealing in illicit drugs in Ilisan, Ogun State. The NDLEA also announced major seizures across the country, including more than N4.4bn worth of cannabis indica, popularly known as Loud, intercepted in two……
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 101-year-old great-grandmother, Esther Ogunmabo, for allegedly dealing in illicit drugs in Ilisan, Ogun State.
The NDLEA also announced major seizures across the country, including more than N4.4bn worth of cannabis indica, popularly known as Loud, intercepted in two containers at the Apapa and Lekki ports.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, Ogunmabo was arrested on Saturday, August 15, with 90 grammes of skunk, a strain of cannabis, packaged in retail sachets.
The agency said the centenarian told operatives that she turned to the illicit drug trade after her provisions shop was destroyed by fire.
Babafemi said Ogunmabo also disclosed that one of her daughters, who lives in Lagos, supplied her with the substance every four days for resale in smaller quantities.
Following her arrest, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), directed that the elderly suspect be granted bail and placed under counselling because of her advanced age.
Her daughter was also arrested in connection with the alleged drug trade.
In Akwa Ibom State, NDLEA operatives intercepted a wooden boat on the high seas on Friday, August 21, while allegedly transporting illicit drugs to fishing settlements in Cameroon.
Three suspects were arrested aboard the boat, which was heading towards Ine Isu, Ine Mbah and Ine Ikot Itie Udung fishing ports.
They were identified as Etima Effiong Eekpo, 29, who was found with 1.120kg of skunk; Otobong Eyoh Etukudoh, 33, with 42.060kg of skunk; and Kingsley Effiong John, 27, who was arrested with 20 grammes of cocaine concealed inside a large wrap of cassava fufu, alongside 435 grammes of skunk.
“A total of 42.622kg of narcotics was recovered from the trio,” Babafemi said.
The agency also recorded what it described as its first seizure of illicit drugs shipped from Thailand through Nigeria’s maritime corridor after two containers containing cannabis indica were intercepted at the Apapa and Lekki ports.
Read Also: NDLEA Arrests Businessman With 1.55kg Cocaine Hidden In Luggage At Lagos Airport
The combined street value of the consignments was estimated at more than N4.4bn.
“Both containers were loaded at the Port of Laem Chabang, Thailand, underscoring the emergence of a new trafficking route being exploited by drug syndicates to smuggle synthetic cannabis into the country,” Babafemi said.
At Apapa Port, a container declared to contain dry fish, rice, vehicle spare parts, turmeric soap and inverter batteries was jointly examined on Friday, August 21, by NDLEA, Customs and other agencies.
The inspection uncovered 1,090.5kg of Thai Loud packed in 54 cartons containing 2,181 sachets of 500 grammes each.
At Lekki Deep Sea Port, another container monitored by the NDLEA Marine Special Operations Unit was examined on Wednesday, August 19.
Four of seven pallets in the container were found to contain Thai Loud, yielding 96 cartons made up of 400 parcels weighing 400kg. The remaining three pallets contained 798 rims of A4 paper used to conceal the consignment.
In the Federal Capital Territory, NDLEA operatives on Saturday, August 22, intercepted three waybill packages containing 24,410 tramadol pills inside a Hummer bus travelling from Enugu to Zuba.
A follow-up operation in Niger State led to the arrest of the alleged owner of the consignment, 28-year-old Sunday Eze, in Kontagora. He was subsequently transferred to Abuja.
In Ondo State, the agency raided a cannabis farm in Ijare forest, Ifedore Local Government Area, on August 19, following the earlier arrest of three suspected cannabis cultivators at the location.
Babafemi said operatives destroyed 10,000kg of skunk cultivated across four hectares of the forest.
In a separate operation at Ita-Ogbolu, Akure North Local Government Area, the agency recovered 210kg of skunk and a Toyota Camry with registration number AGL 223 JH, allegedly belonging to Sylvester Dibiagu Anthony, who is currently at large.
In Kano State, a raid on Hadeija Road on Monday, August 17, led to the arrest of 31-year-old Chibuzor Madueke, from whom 98 blocks of skunk weighing 73.3kg were recovered.
At Seme in the Badagry area of Lagos State, NDLEA operatives arrested three members of the same family — Nasiru Tijjani, 52; Moshood Tijjani, 27; and Salami Tijjani, 27 — with 48kg of skunk in the Ashipa area near the Seme border.
In Abia State, operatives raided the residence of 36-year-old Ikechukwu Anthony Iwuno in the Umuobia Olokoro area of Umuahia South Local Government Area on Thursday, August 20.
The operation resulted in the recovery of 14.4kg of Loud, 2.3kg of Colorado, 386 grammes of tramadol and 134 grammes of rohypnol.
Marwa commended officers and men of the Ogun, Apapa, Lekki, Seme, Akwa Ibom, Ondo, Oyo, Kwara, Kano, Abia and FCT Commands for the operations.
He urged NDLEA personnel across the country to sustain what he described as the agency’s balanced approach to drug-control efforts.
