NDLEA arrests 83-year-old repeat offender, S/African woman over drug trafficking
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested an 83-year-old woman, Uloma Uchechi Sunday, for allegedly returning to drug trafficking barely a year after her conviction, while also apprehending a South African woman with 32.74kg of cannabis at the Port Harcourt International Airport.
Uloma was arrested on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, at her residence in Ite-Uzo, Umuaguma, Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State, where operatives reportedly recovered methamphetamine and Colorado concealed around her waist with a wrapper.
The octogenarian was previously arrested alongside her 32-year-old daughter, Chisom Uchechi, on May 17, 2025, with methamphetamine, skunk, fresh cannabis leaves and tramadol, after which both reportedly pleaded guilty, were sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment or a N200,000 fine each, paid the fines and were released.
At the Port Harcourt International Airport, NDLEA operatives working with the Nigeria Customs Service arrested South African national Gebashe Sithandiwe Jessie with 30 parcels of Thai Loud weighing 32.74kg, while officers at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, intercepted 354,000 tablets of Tapentadol weighing 307.20kg in a shipment from Pakistan.
In another Lagos operation, operatives recovered 70 parcels of Colorado weighing 75.90kg from six Ghana-Must-Go bags in a United Kingdom shipment, leading to the arrests of clearing agent John Edrah, 54, Uber driver Taofiq Ajibola, 54, Adetunji Adebayo and clothing trader Kazeem Damola Dosunmu, 48, with the suspects reportedly linking the consignments to two UK-based associates.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives in Cross River State arrested Adama Inuwa, 46, in Iyala Nkun village, Ikom Local Government Area, with 181 bags of cannabis weighing 1,100kg and 17.15kg of cannabis seeds, while officers in Edo State intercepted 1,049 blocks of compressed cannabis weighing 702.83kg in a Toyota Camry at Otuo, Owan East Local Government Area, and arrested three suspects.
In Ondo, Taraba, Kano and Kaduna states, the agency recorded further seizures, including 641kg of cannabis in two separate operations in Akure, 166,200 tramadol tablets in Taraba, thousands of tramadol capsules and diazepam and Exol-5 tablets in Kano, and 1,027kg of skunk in Kaduna, while a separate operation in Orile, Lagos, yielded 85.16kg of skunk and cannabis seeds.
In Plateau State, operatives recovered 47g of methamphetamine, two pump-action rifles, a locally made gun and assorted ammunition from the residence of Christian Chukwudi Uju, 45, in Jos, as the agency continued its War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation campaign in schools and communities, with NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.) commending officers involved in the operations and urging them to sustain their efforts against drug trafficking.
