The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 50-year-old widow, Mrs. Ifeoma Ezewuike, for attempting to traffic 1.3 kilogrammes of cocaine by faking pregnancy to evade security checks.
Ezewuike, a fashion designer and mother of one, was apprehended last Friday at a bus terminal in Jibowu, Yaba, Lagos, while trying to move the drug consignment to Abuja, according to NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi. A subsequent search of her residence in Ago Palace Way, Okota, led to the recovery of 200 grammes of a cutting agent used in cocaine production.
The suspect reportedly admitted that she inherited the illicit trade from her late husband, while maintaining she had run a fashion business for over 20 years.
In a separate operation, NDLEA officers intercepted 90 parcels of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis weighing 48.6 kilogrammes, concealed in three cartons of kitchen sinks imported from the United States. The seizure was made at a courier company in Lagos on 19 August.
Across other states, multiple raids led to significant recoveries:
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In Adamawa, operatives seized 354,480 pills of tramadol from an associate of a fleeing drug dealer.
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In Kano, over 452,000 pills of opioids and 140 litres of codeine syrup were recovered, with several suspects arrested.
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In Kwara, 2,289 kilogrammes of cannabis were intercepted in three operations.
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In Taraba, Edo, Delta and Ondo, thousands of kilogrammes of cannabis were destroyed on farmlands.
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In Abuja, two dispatch riders were arrested for distributing illicit substances.
Babafemi added that NDLEA’s sensitization campaign under the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) also continued nationwide last week.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the officers for their efforts, urging them to sustain the momentum in the agency’s ongoing balanced approach to drug control.
