101-Year-Old Woman Arrested With Cannabis ‘Supplied By Daughter’ As Nigeria’s NDLEA Recovers Cocaine Concealed In Fufu
101-Year-Old Woman Arrested With Cannabis ‘Supplied By Daughter’ As Nigeria’s NDLEA Recovers Cocaine Concealed In Fufu
According to the agency, the centenarian told operatives that she had resorted to selling illicit drugs after her provisions shop was destroyed by fire.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 101-year-old woman, Esther Ogunmabo, for allegedly dealing in cannabis in Ilisan, Ogun State, while operatives also intercepted cocaine concealed in edible cassava flour popularly known as fufu in Akwa Ibom State.
NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, saying Ogunmabo was arrested on Saturday, August 15, with 90 grammes of skunk, a strain of cannabis, packaged in retail sachets.
According to the agency, the centenarian told operatives that she had resorted to selling illicit drugs after her provisions shop was destroyed by fire.
She reportedly said one of her daughters, who lives in Lagos, supplied the cannabis to her every four days, which she then sold in small quantities to locals.
The NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), subsequently directed that the woman be granted bail and placed on counselling because of her advanced age.
NDLEA
Her daughter was, however, arrested in connection with the alleged drug dealing.
In a separate operation in Akwa Ibom State, NDLEA operatives intercepted a wooden boat on the high seas on Friday, August 21, allegedly conveying illicit drugs to fishing settlements in Cameroon.
Three suspects were arrested aboard the boat, which was reportedly heading to Ine Isu, Ine Mbah and Ine Ikot Itie Udung fishing ports in Cameroon.
They were identified as 29-year-old Etima Effiong Eekpo, who was allegedly found with 1.120kg of skunk; 33-year-old Otobong Eyoh Etukudoh, who had 42.060kg of skunk; and 27-year-old Kingsley Effiong John.
John was allegedly found with 20 grammes of cocaine concealed inside a large wrap of edible cassava fufu, alongside 435 grammes of skunk.
The agency said a total of 42.622kg of narcotics was recovered from the three suspects.
The latest operations formed part of a series of seizures and arrests carried out by NDLEA commands across the country in the past week.
In Abuja, operatives on Saturday, August 22, intercepted three waybill packages containing 24,410 tramadol capsules inside a Hummer bus travelling from Enugu to Zuba.
A follow-up operation in Niger State led to the arrest of the alleged owner of the consignment, 28-year-old Sunday Eze, in Kontagora. He was subsequently transferred to Abuja.
In Oyo State, a 65-year-old woman, Adebayo Kaosarat, was arrested at the Akobo-Ojuirin area of Ibadan on Friday with 1.795kg of Scottish Loud, 1.66kg of tramadol, 600 grammes of codeine syrup, 125 grammes of diazepam and 50 grammes of flunitrazepam.
The NDLEA said the substances weighed a combined 4.68kg.
In Kano State, operatives raided Hadeija Road on Monday, August 17, arresting 31-year-old Chibuzor Madueke and recovering 98 blocks of skunk weighing 73.3kg.
Similarly, three members of the same family, identified as 52-year-old Nasiru Tijjani and 27-year-olds Moshood Tijjani and Salami Tijjani, were arrested near the Seme border in Lagos with 48kg of skunk.
The agency also reported the arrest of 22-year-old Muhammadu Usman in Kwara State after 1.325kg of methamphetamine and quantities of cannabis were recovered from a Toyota Starlet car along the Ogbomosho-Ilorin Expressway.
In Abia State, NDLEA operatives raided the residence of 36-year-old Ikechukwu Anthony Iwuno in Umuahia South Local Government Area, recovering 14.4kg of Loud, 2.3kg of Colorado, 386 grammes of tramadol and 134 grammes of rohypnol.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives in Ondo State destroyed 10,000kg of skunk cultivated across four hectares of cannabis farm in Ijare forest, Ifedore Local Government Area.
The agency said the operation followed the earlier arrest of three suspected cannabis planters at the location on August 16.
In a separate operation in Ita-Ogbolu, Akure North Local Government Area, 210kg of skunk and a Toyota Camry were recovered. The vehicle’s alleged owner, Sylvester Dibiagu Anthony, is currently at large, according to the NDLEA.
Marwa commended the officers and men of the affected commands and urged them to sustain what he described as the agency’s balanced approach to drug control.
