Nigeria’s anti-narcotics agency, NDLEA, has arrested a South African woman with 36.65 kilograms of cocaine and a Nigerian-American grandmother with 9.45 kilograms of cannabis in separate operations at Lagos international airport.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said the 34-year-old South African, Qhina Beauty, was arrested on October 7 while attempting to board a flight to South Africa via Doha, Qatar. Officers found 30 blocks of cocaine concealed in her luggage.
She reportedly told investigators she had travelled to Nigeria to collect the drugs and was promised 20,000 South African rand for delivering them. A 46-year-old Lagos-based car dealer, Uchenna Victor Umunnakwe, was subsequently arrested over his alleged involvement in the operation.
In a separate case, 62-year-old Anetor Gloria Ubong, a Nigerian-American realtor based in Texas, was arrested on October 21 after arriving from Houston on a United Airlines flight. Officers discovered 9.45 kilograms of high-grade cannabis, known as loud, concealed in a box among her checked-in luggage. She reportedly told investigators the package was intended for her daughter’s fiancé in Nigeria.
The arrests formed part of a wider nationwide crackdown in which the NDLEA reported seizing large quantities of illicit drugs across several states.
