NDLEA arrests widow caught smuggling cocaine with fake pregnancy in Lagos

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 50-year-old widow and fashion designer for attempting to traffic 1.3 kilograms of cocaine in Lagos under the guise of a fake pregnancy.

NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Mr. Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja. He said the suspect, a mother of one and proprietress of a fashion outlet on Ago Palace Way, Okota, was apprehended on August 22 at a bus terminal in Jibowu, Yaba, while trying to transport the drugs to customers in Abuja.

A follow-up search of her residence in Ago Palace yielded 200 grams of a cutting agent used in processing cocaine. The suspect allegedly confessed that she inherited the illicit trade from her late husband, who died two years ago, though she had been in the fashion business for over 20 years.

In another operation, NDLEA operatives in Lagos intercepted 90 parcels of loud, a potent strain of cannabis weighing 48.6kg, concealed in three cartons of kitchen sinks imported from the United States. The drugs were seized on August 19 at a courier company by officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI).

Similarly, in Adamawa, NDLEA officers acting on intelligence raided the residence of a notorious drug dealer in Rumde Baru, Yola South, on August 22. The main suspect escaped by scaling a fence, but one of his associates, 55, was arrested.

Items recovered included a Toyota Tundra jeep (FST-885-CZ) used to transport 354,480 tramadol pills (225mg and 250mg) from Lagos to Yola, a Toyota Yaris car (DSA-776-AA), and other illicit drugs.

Babafemi quoted NDLEA Chairman, Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd.), as commending the officers involved in the operations for their vigilance. Marwa urged them to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control nationwide.