NDLEA Arrests Businesswoman with 7.5kg Cocaine, Seizes N12.4bn Cannabis Consignment in Lagos

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 38-year-old businesswoman, Peace Iwebema, for allegedly attempting to smuggle 7.5 kilograms of cocaine concealed in her luggage at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.

The agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Mr. Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.

Babafemi said the suspect was arrested while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to Beijing, China, following credible intelligence received by the agency.

He said four large parcels of cocaine were discovered hidden in the false bottom of her luggage, with a combined weight of 7.5 kilograms.

In a separate operation, the NDLEA recovered 4,959 kilograms of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, with an estimated street value of N12.397 billion, from a 40-foot container at the Apapa Port Complex in Lagos.

Babafemi said the container, which contained 195 large sacks of the illicit drug alongside a Ford and a Nissan vehicle, was intercepted after operatives of two NDLEA special units tracked and monitored the shipment for more than four weeks.

According to him, the consignment originated from Toronto, Canada, where it was loaded on April 25 before being transported by truck and rail to Montreal on April 29.

He said the shipment was later moved to Tangier, Morocco, on May 11, transferred to another vessel on May 23, arrived at the Tin Can Port in Lagos on June 4, and was eventually moved to Apapa Port, where it was impounded on June 22.

Babafemi said the seizure was made during a joint examination involving officers of the NDLEA Apapa Strategic Command, the Nigeria Customs Service, other security agencies and port stakeholders.

Reacting to the operations, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, retired Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa, commended the officers involved in the arrests and seizures.

Marwa urged personnel across the country to sustain the ongoing crackdown on drug trafficking until traffickers find it impossible to operate through Nigeria.