A 60-year-old grandmother and a nine months pregnant woman have been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for alleged drug trafficking in Oyo and Rivers States respectively.

The grandma, Mrs. Ibinosun Sandra Esther was arrested in Ibadan, Oyo State in a follow up operation, following the seizure of 5.5kg Loud variant of cannabis imported into Nigeria from South Africa, while 29-year-old pregnant woman, Kate Ibinabo was held for possessing 34.4kgs cannabis sativa on Saturday 3rd December 2022
in Okrika area of Rivers State.

NDLEA’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi in a statement on Sunday, said the two suspects were among those arrested during interdiction operations in which 5,527.15 kilogrammes of methamphetamine and cannabis sativa, as well as 132,090 tablets of tramadol and 2,000 bottles of codeine were recovered by across five States and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja by the agency in the past week.

Babafemi said the consignment, according to Ibinosun, was sent to her by her daughter was concealed in two giant Speakers as part of a consolidated cargo that arrived the NAHCO import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja Lagos on board an Airpeace Airline flight.

In a related development, NDLEA operatives also on Saturday 26th November intercepted 1.4 kilograms of methamphetamine concealed inside custard tins packed among cosmetics and foodstuffs going to Brazil via Doha on a Qatar Airways flight. A cargo agent, Salako Omolara Fausat who brought the bag containing the illicit drug to the airport and an intending passenger to Brazil, Anyanwu Christian who was to travel with the consignment were promptly arrested.

Another attempt by a freight agent, Adebisi Aina Hafsat to export 3,000 tablets of tramadol concealed in motor spare parts to Banjul, Gambia through the NAHCO export shed was equally thwarted by operatives who seized the consignment and arrested her on Monday 28th November 2022, while a follow up operation to Ebute-Meta area of Lagos the following day, Tuesday 29th November 2022, led to the arrest of the actual owner, Afam Chibuke Stanley, who is a spare parts seller.

“This was followed by the seizure of 100,000 tablets of Royal brand of Tramadol 200mg with a gross weight of 68.90 kilograms imported from Karachi, Pakistan on Ethiopian Airlines at the SAHCO import shed”, the agency said.

In Abuja, operatives stormed the warehouse of a notorious drug lord and an ex-convict, Ibrahim Momoh, also known as Ibrahim Bendel who escaped from prison custody to return to his criminal trade and recovered 81 jumbo bags of cannabis weighing 1,278kgs.

Though the fleeing drug dealer is still at large and is wanted by the Agency, his warehouse keeper, 55-year-old Ghanaian, Richard Forson Gordon was arrested, NDLEA said.

NDLEA also revealed that Ibrahim Momoh was first arrested on 27th November, 2014 with the same substance weighing 385.1kgs, prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to seven and a half years in prison on 22nd of April, 2020 but escaped from jail after three months.

This is in a addition to about 2,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup were seized in a commercial bus by operatives on Friday 2nd December along Lokoja – Abuja expressway.

Commending officers and men for the feat, the Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Mohamed Buba Marwa, directed that the pregnant woman be granted administrative bail, pending when shes delivered of her baby and thereafter return for her prosecution because at the time of her arrest, she’s in her ninth month of pregnancy citing a medical report.

He charged NFLEA personnel and their counterparts across other formations to continue to step up their offensives against drug cartels particularly in Ondo and Cross River States where a large trunk of illicit drugs were also recovered from suspected traffickers.

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