Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has stepped up arrests and seizures across the country, detaining an 83-year-old woman in Abia State on fresh drug allegations less than a year after she paid a court-imposed fine for a similar conviction.
Key takeaways
- Uloma Uchechi Sunday, 83, was detained in Abia with methamphetamine and Colorado allegedly concealed around her waist.
- A South African passenger was arrested at Port Harcourt airport with 32.74kg of Thai Loud cannabis in two suitcases.
- Airport operations in Lagos uncovered 307.20kg of Tapentadol tablets from Pakistan and 75.90kg of Colorado shipped from the United Kingdom.
- Major cannabis seizures were recorded in Cross River, Edo, Ondo, Kaduna and Lagos states.
- Officers also recovered firearms, ammunition and methamphetamine during a raid in Jos, Plateau State.
Abia arrest and airport interdictions
NDLEA officers arrested Mrs Uloma Uchechi Sunday on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, at her home in Ite-Uzo, Umuaguma, in Abia State’s Obingwa Local Government Area. The agency said methamphetamine and Colorado, a synthetic cannabinoid, were wrapped around her waist during the operation.
Her detention followed intelligence indicating that she had been running a drug location used by criminal groups accused of terrorising people in the surrounding community.
The 83-year-old had earlier been arrested at the same residence on May 17, 2025, together with her 32-year-old daughter, Chisom Uchechi. During that earlier raid, officers seized 50 grams of methamphetamine, 522 grams of skunk, 260 grams of fresh cannabis leaves and 12 grams of tramadol.
Both women entered guilty pleas and received sentences of 12 months’ imprisonment or a N200,000 fine each. They paid the fines and were released. The agency said Sunday returned to the illicit business and expanded it by establishing a drug joint that accommodated dangerous individuals.
At Port Harcourt International Airport in Omagwa, Rivers State, NDLEA personnel working alongside the Nigeria Customs Service arrested a South African national, Gebashe Sithandiwe Jessie. She was found with 30 parcels of Thai Loud, a cannabis variety, with a total weight of 32.74kg hidden in two travel bags.
Jessie had flown from Thailand via Doha on Qatar Airways flight QR1431. She admitted to previous drug trafficking through other African countries and was seeking to extend her route to Port Harcourt when she was apprehended.
At the Import Shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos, officers intercepted a Pakistan-origin consignment, described as nine7 cartons, carried on a Royal Air Maroc flight. The cargo had been watched after reaching Nigeria on September 29.
A joint inspection on Tuesday, October 6, uncovered 354,000 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg, weighing 307.20kg.
In a separate Lagos airport operation, the agency stopped a consolidated shipment from the United Kingdom that arrived on September 29. Six Ghana-Must-Go bags were found to contain 70 packages of Colorado weighing 75.90kg.
John Edrah, 54, a clearing agent, became the first person arrested over the shipment on September 30. Taofiq Ajibola, 54, an Uber driver, was subsequently detained while picking up one bag at a logistics firm in Mafoluku, Oshodi.
Adetunji Adebayo and Kazeem Damola Dosunmu, 48, who trades clothing, were later arrested when they arrived to retrieve the other five bags. Ajibola said the drugs had been dispatched by a UK-based associate, Lukman Sa’idu, while Dosunmu said his own cargo had been sent by another UK-based individual identified as Yusuf.
Nationwide seizures and weapons recovery
In Cross River State, surveillance led NDLEA officers to raid Iyala Nkun village in Ikom Local Government Area on Sunday, October 4. Adama Inuwa, 46, was arrested with 181 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 1,100kg, along with 17.15kg of cannabis seeds.
In Edo State, officers stopped a black Toyota Camry at Otuo in Owan East Local Government Area on Monday, October 5. The vehicle was carrying 1,049 compressed cannabis blocks with a weight of 702.83kg. Monday Orji, 52, Monday Lawal, 40, and Precious Uduegele, 20, were arrested in connection with the load.
Another Edo raid, conducted in Asoro off Sakponba Road in Benin City, resulted in the arrest of 26-year-old Ojugo Mercy. Officers recovered 989 grams of Loud, 13 grams of Colorado and 83 grams of methamphetamine.
In Ondo State, 21-year-old Happy Endurance was tracked to a hideout in the Shasha area of Akure on Monday, October 5. Officers recovered 29 bags of cannabis weighing 290kg. Also that day, an apartment raid in Oba-Ile, Akure, led to the arrest of Tunde Adebayo, 42, with 35 bags of cannabis weighing 351kg.
In Taraba State, NDLEA officers supported by soldiers arrested Abdulrasheed Mohamed, 31, and Abubakar Saidu, 37, at Chanchanji village in Wukari Local Government Area on Friday, October 9. The pair were found with 166,200 tablets of Tramadol 225mg weighing 107kg.
That Friday, a stop-and-search exercise on the Kano-Maiduguri road in Kano State led to the arrest of Yahaya Musa, 32. He was carrying 24,990 Tramadol capsules, 50,000 Diazepam tablets and 22,000 Exol-5 tablets.
In Kaduna State, a patrol team on the Zaria-Kaduna Expressway arrested Mohammed Musa, 29, with 31 jumbo bags of skunk and 775 blocks of the same drug. The combined haul weighed 1,027kg.
In Lagos, Musbau Balogun Adekunle was detained in Orile on Tuesday, October 6, with 32.51kg of skunk and 52.65kg of its seeds, for a combined weight of 85.16kg.
In Plateau State, officers raided the Rukuba Road residence of 45-year-old Christian Chukwudi Uju in Jos on Thursday, October 8. The raid yielded 47 grams of methamphetamine, two pump-action rifles, one locally manufactured gun, 199 live cartridges, five 7.62mm rounds and one 9mm round of ammunition.
