Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have re-arrested an 83-year-old grandmother, Mrs Uloma Uchechi Sunday, with methamphetamine and Colorado, a synthetic cannabinoid, tied around her waist. The arrest came barely a year after she was prosecuted and convicted for the same offence.
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She was picked up on Wednesday, October 7, at her home in Ite-Uzo, Umuaguma, Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State. The drugs were reportedly secured to her waist with a wrapper. Her re-arrest followed credible intelligence that she runs a notorious drug joint that harbours criminal elements who terrorise the community.
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A repeat offender
NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi said her first encounter with the law was on May 17, 2025. Operatives arrested her at her home in the same village, together with her daughter Chisom Uchechi, 32. The two were found with 50 grams of methamphetamine, 522 grams of skunk, 260 grams of fresh cannabis leaves and 12 grams of tramadol.
Both pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment or a fine of N200,000 each. They paid the fine and were released. According to the agency, the elderly woman “promptly returned to the criminal trade” and escalated by setting up a drug joint where she harboured dangerous characters.
South African woman caught at Port Harcourt airport
In a separate operation at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, NDLEA operatives working with the Nigeria Customs Service arrested a South African woman, Gebashe Sithandiwe Jessie. She was carrying 30 parcels of Thai Loud, a type of cannabis, weighing 32.74 kilograms in two travelling bags.
She had travelled from Thailand through Doha on Qatar Airways flight QR1431. Babafemi said she confessed to having trafficked drugs through other African countries and was expanding her route to Port Harcourt when she was caught.
Lagos airport cargo seizure
At the Lagos airport, officers monitored a consolidated cargo from the United Kingdom that arrived on September 29. Six Ghana-Must-Go bags were found to contain 70 parcels of Colorado weighing 75.90kg.
A clearing agent, John Edrah, 54, was arrested first, on September 30. Uber driver Taofiq Ajibola, 54, was then arrested while collecting one of the bags at a logistics company in the Mafoluku area of Oshodi. Adetunji Adebayo and Kazeem Damola Dosunmu, 48, a clothing trader, were arrested when they came for the remaining five bags.
Ajibola said the drugs were sent by a UK-based associate, Lukman Sa’idu. Dosunmu said his consignments came from another UK-based man identified as Yusuf.
Cannabis farm raid in Cross River
Following surveillance, NDLEA officers raided Iyala Nkun village in Ikom Local Government Area of Cross River State on Sunday, October 4. They arrested Adama Inuwa, 46, and recovered 181 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 1,100kg, along with 17.15kg of cannabis seeds.
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