NDLEA arrests convicted grandma, South African woman with Colorado, meth shipments

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has again arrested an 83-year-old grandmother, Mrs Uloma Uchechi Sunday, with consignments of methamphetamine and Colorado concealed around her waist, barely a year after she was nabbed, prosecuted and convicted for the same offence.

The octogenarian was arrested on Wednesday at her home in Ite-Uzo, Umuaguma, Obingwa LGA, Abia State, with quantities of methamphetamine and Colorado tied to her waist with a wrapper.

Her re-arrest followed credible intelligence indicating that she runs a notorious drug joint that harbours criminal elements who terrorise the community.

The Director, Media and Advocacy of the NDLEA, Mr Femi Babafemi, said in a statement on Sunday that Uloma’s first encounter with the law was on May 17, 2025, when she was arrested by operatives of the agency at her residence in the same village, alongside her daughter, Chisom Uchechi, 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 ₦200,000 each. They paid the fine and were released by the court.

Undeterred, the notorious old woman promptly returned to the criminal trade and escalated the scale by setting up a drug joint where she harbours dangerous characters.

At the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, Rivers State, NDLEA operatives, working in synergy with the Customs Service, arrested a South African woman, Gebashe Sithandiwe Jessie, with 30 parcels of Thai Loud, a species of cannabis, weighing 32.74 kilograms, concealed in two travelling bags.

The suspect had travelled from Thailand via Doha aboard Qatar Airways flight QR1431. She confessed to having previously trafficked through other African countries and was expanding her route to Port Harcourt when she was caught.

Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives at the Import Shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, have intercepted a consignment of nine cartons from Pakistan aboard a Royal Air Maroc flight. The cargo was placed under watch on arrival on September 29. A joint examination of the shipment on October 6 uncovered 354,000 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg, weighing 307.20kg.

In another interdiction at the Lagos airport, a consolidated cargo from the United Kingdom was monitored after arriving on September 29. Six Ghana-Must-Go bags were found to contain 70 parcels of Colorado, a synthetic cannabinoid, weighing 75.90kg.

A clearing agent, John Edrah, 54, was the first suspect to be arrested, on September 30, the statement said. Thereafter, Taofiq Ajibola, an Uber driver, was arrested while collecting one of the bags at a logistics company in the Mafoluku area of Oshodi, followed by Adetunji Adebayo and Kazeem Damola Dosunmu, a clothing trader, who came for the remaining five.

Ajibola said the drugs were sent by a UK-based associate, Lukman Sa’idu, while Dosunmu said his own consignments came from another UK-based man identified as Yusuf.

Following surveillance, a raid on Iyala Nkun village, Ikom LGA, Cross River State, by NDLEA officers on October 4 led to the arrest of Adama Inuwa with 181 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 1,100kg and 17.15kg of cannabis seeds.

In Edo, NDLEA operatives intercepted a black Toyota Camry at Otuo, Owan East LGA, on October 5, conveying 1,049 blocks of compressed cannabis weighing 702.83kg. Monday Orji, Monday Lawal and Precious Uduegele were arrested in connection with the seizure. In another raid, Ojugo Mercy was arrested at Asoro, off Sakponba Road, Benin City, with 989 grams of Loud, 13 grams of Colorado and 83 grams of methamphetamine.

According to Babafemi, a 21-year-old suspect, Happy Endurance, was trailed to her hideout in the Shasha area of Akure, Ondo State, where 29 bags of cannabis weighing 290kg were recovered by NDLEA operatives on October 5. The same day, a raid on an apartment at Oba-Ile, Akure, led to the arrest of Tunde Adebayo with 35 bags of the same psychoactive substance weighing 351kg.

In Taraba, NDLEA operatives, supported by soldiers, on Friday arrested Abdulrasheed Mohamed and Abubakar Saidu at Chanchanji village, Wukari LGA, with 166,200 tablets of Tramadol 225mg weighing 107kg, while a stop-and-search operation by NDLEA officers along the Kano-Maiduguri road, Kano, on Friday led to the arrest of Yahaya Musa with 24,990 capsules of Tramadol, 50,000 tablets of Diazepam and 22,000 tablets of Exol-5.

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In Kaduna, NDLEA operatives on patrol along the Zaria-Kaduna expressway arrested Mohammed Musa with 31 jumbo bags of skunk and 775 blocks of the same substance, with a combined weight of 1,027kg.

In Orile, Lagos, a suspect, Musbau Balogun Adekunle, was arrested on October 6 with 32.51kg of skunk and 52.65kg of its seeds, totalling 85.16kg, while assorted rifles and ammunition were recovered, along with illicit drugs, by NDLEA operatives who raided the residence of 45-year-old Christian Chukwudi Uju at Rukuba Road, Jos, Plateau State, on Thursday.

Seized from him were 47 grams of methamphetamine, two pump-action rifles, one locally made gun, 199 live cartridges, five rounds of 7.62mm and one round of 9mm ammunition.

While commending the officers and men of the Lagos, MMIA, PHIA, Taraba, Kano, Kaduna, Edo, Cross River, Ondo and Plateau commands for their professionalism and intelligence-driven approach to the various successful operations, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Marwa (rtd), enjoined them and their colleagues across the country to continue with the current balanced approach to the agency’s drug control efforts.