Centenarian Woman Arrested With Cannabis As NDLEA Uncovers First Thailand Maritime Drug Route
By Omoyeni Ojeifo
The arrest of a 101-year-old woman for drug dealing has emerged as one of the most remarkable cases in the NDLEA’s latest nationwide operations.
Operatives apprehended Esther Ogunmabo at Ilisan, Ogun State, on Saturday, August 15, recovering 90 grams of skunk.
According to NDLEA Spokesperson Femi Babafemi in a statement emailed to PerSecondNews on Sunday, the suspect claimed she turned to retail drug sales after a fire gutted her provisions business.
The centenarian confessed that she resorted to the illicit drug trade after her provisions shop was razed by fire.
Ogunmabo also revealed that that one of her daughters who resides in Lagos, arranges the supply of the substance to her every four days, which she in turn sells in bits.
However, in a compassionate gesture, retired Brig.- Mohamed Buba Marwa, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, directed that the suspect be granted bail and placed on counselling because of her advanced age, while her daughter has been arrested.
In a related development, NDLEA operatives in Akwa Ibom State, acting on credible intelligence, on Friday, August 21, intercepted a wooden boat on the high seas conveying illicit drugs to fishing settlements in the Republic of Cameroon.
Three suspects were arrested on board the boat, which was heading to Ine Isu, Ine Mbah and Ine Ikot Itie Udung fishing ports in Cameroon.
The suspects include Etima Effiong Eekpo, 29, caught with 1.120kg skunk; Otobong Eyoh Etukudoh, 33, who had 42.060kg of skunk in his possession; and 27-year-old Kingsley Effiong John.
John was found with 20 grams of cocaine cleverly concealed inside a large wrap of edible cassava fufu, popularly known as fufu, alongside 435 grams of skunk.
A total of 42.622kg of narcotics was recovered from the trio.
In a breakthrough operation in the nation’s maritime space, the Agency recorded its first-ever seizure of illicit drugs shipped from Thailand through the maritime corridor, following the interception of two containers of cannabis indica, also known as Loud, at the Apapa and Lekki ports in Lagos, with a combined street value put at over 4.4 billion Naira.
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.
At the Apapa Port, a container declared to be conveying dry fish, rice, vehicle spare parts, turmeric soap and inverter batteries was found, during a joint examination of the shipment on Friday, August 21, by NDLEA, Customs and others, to contain 1,090.5kg of Thai Loud.
The consignment was packed in 54 cartons comprising 2,181 sachets of 500 grams each, the statement emailed to PersecondNews reads.
While at the Lekki Deep Sea Port, a similar container, which had been placed on the Agency’s watchlist and monitored
by its Marine Special Operations Unit, was jointly examined on Wednesday, August 19.
Of the seven pallets found in the container wrapped in black nylon, four were confirmed to be laced with Thai Loud, yielding 96 cartons made up of 400 parcels weighing a total of 400kg.
The remaining three pallets contained 798 rims of A4 paper, which had been used as cover for the consignment.
Meanwhile in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, NDLEA operatives on Saturday, August 22, intercepted three waybill packages containing 24,410 pills of tramadol capsules inside a Hummer bus travelling from Enugu to Zuba.
A follow-up operation conducted in Niger State led to the arrest of the owner of the consignment, Sunday Eze, 28, in Kontagora, after which he was transferred to Abuja.
Similarly in Ondo State, NDLEA operatives on Wednesday, August 19, raided a cannabis farm at Ijare forest, Ifedore Local Government Area, following the earlier arrest of three suspected cannabis planters at the same location on August 16.
A total of 10,000kg of skunk cultivated across four hectares of the forest were destroyed by operatives.
In a separate operation in the state, operatives on the same day at Ita-Ogbolu, Akure North LGA, recovered 210kg skunk and a Toyota Camry car with registration number AGL 223 JH belonging to Sylvester Dibiagu Anthony, who is currently at large.
Elsewhere in Kwara State, NDLEA operatives on patrol along the Ogbomosho-Ilorin expressway, Ilorin, on Friday, August 21, intercepted a Toyota Starlet car without a registration number.
A search of the vehicle led to the recovery of 1.325kg of methamphetamine, wrapped in black nylon bags, alongside quantities of cannabis sativa.
One suspect, Muhammadu Usman, 22, was arrested in connection with the seizure.
In Oyo State, a 65-year-old woman, Adebayo Kaosarat, was arrested at Akobo-Ojuirin area of Ibadan on Friday, August 21, with a cocktail of substances comprising 1.795kg of Scottish Loud, 1.66kg of tramadol, 600g of codeine syrup, 125g of diazepam and 50g of flunitrazepam, totalling 4.68kg.
In Kano State, a raid at Hadeija Road on Monday, August 17, led to the arrest of Chibuzor Madueke, 31, with 98 blocks of skunk weighing 73.3kg recovered from him.
Similarly, in Lagos State, NDLEA operatives at Seme, Badagry area, arrested three family members — Nasiru Tijjani, 52; Moshood Tijjani, 27; and Salami Tijjani, 27 — at Ashipa area, near the Seme border, with 48kg of skunk.
Also in Abia State, NDLEA officers on Thursday, August 20, raided the residence of Ikechukwu Anthony Iwuno, 36, at Umuobia Olokoro area of Umuahia South LGA.
The operation led to the recovery of 14.4kg Loud, 2.3kg Colorado, 386 grams of tramadol and 134 grams of rohypnol.
The crackdown was accompanied by continued efforts to prevent drug abuse, with Commands and formations of the Agency across the country continuing their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities, among others, in the past week.
These include operation WADA enlightenment lecture to students and staff of Umar Bn Khattab College for Islamic Studies, Ungogo LGA, Kano; Markaz Al-Furqan Centre of Islamic and Arabic Teaching, Kishi, Oyo State; School of Nursing and Midwifery, Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State; and Mu’assasah Tahfizui Qur’an Islamiya School, Ibi, Taraba.
Others include members of the Scout Association of Nigeria at the first National Youth Camp held in Benin City, Edo State, while the Idiroko Special Area Command of NDLEA paid a WADA advocacy visit to the Chairman of Ipokia LGA, Ogun State, Johnson Avoseh, among others.
Retired Brig.- Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, hailed the personnel whose operations produced the latest arrests and seizures across Ogun, Apapa, Lekki, Seme, Akwa Ibom, Ondo, Oyo, Kwara, Kano, Abia and the FCT.