NDLEA arrested a 101-year-old woman for allegedly selling illegal drugs

Agents of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 101-year-old great-grandmother in Ogun State for allegedly trafficking illegal drugs.

NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, who disclosed this in a statement, said that his men both intercepted cocaine hidden in edible cassava flour known as fufu, and also seized a large consignment of Loud, synthetic marijuana worth over N4.4 billion at Apapa and Lekki ports in Lagos.

“In a rare and surprising development, NDLEA agents on Saturday, August 15, 2026, arrested a 101-year-old woman, Esther Ogunmabo, in Ilisan, Ogun State, with 90 grams of skunk, a form of marijuana, which she claimed she was selling to local residents.

According to the statement, the centenarian told agents that she carried out illegal drug trafficking after her provision shop was engulfed in fire, adding that one of her daughters, who lives in Lagos, arranged to supply the drugs to her every four days, which she then sold in pieces.

Babafemi said the Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), had directed that the suspect be granted bail and undergo counseling due to his advanced age, while his daughter had been arrested.

In a related development, NDLEA agents in Akwa Ibom State, acting on credible intelligence, on Friday August 21 intercepted a wooden boat on the high seas carrying illegal drugs to a fishing settlement in the Republic of Cameroon.

“The three suspects who were arrested on board the ship heading to the fishing ports of Ine Isu, Ine Mbah and Ine Ikot Itie Udung in Cameroon, included: Etima Effiong Eekpo, 29, who was caught with a skunk weighing 1,120 kg; which was cleverly hidden in a large packet of edible cassava fufu, along with 435 grams of skunk. A total of 42,622 kg of narcotics were recovered from the three.

“In the country’s maritime space, the Agency recorded the seizure of illegal drugs shipped from Thailand via the maritime corridor for the first time, following the interception of two containers of cannabis indica, also known as Loud, at Apapa and Lekki ports, with a combined value of over N4.4 billion.

The two containers were loaded at Laem Chabang Port, Thailand, underscoring the emergence of a new trade route being exploited by drug syndicates to smuggle synthetic marijuana into the country.

“At Apapa Port, a container stated to be carrying dried fish, rice, vehicle spare parts, turmeric soap and inverter batteries, was discovered, during a joint inspection of shipping on Friday August 21 by the NDLEA, Customs and others, containing 1,090.5 kg of Thai Loud packed in 54 cartons consisting of 2,181 sachets of 500 grams each.

“At Lekki Deep Sea Port, a similar container, which had been placed on the Agency’s watch list and monitored by the Marine Special Operations Unit, was jointly inspected on Wednesday, August 19. Of the seven pallets found inside the black nylon-wrapped container, four were confirmed to be tied with Thai Loud, resulting in 96 cartons consisting of 400 parcels with a total weight of 400kg. The remaining three pallets contained 798 rims of A4 paper used as consignment covers,” the statement said.

In the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja, NDLEA agents on Saturday August 22 intercepted three waybill packages containing 24,410 tramadol capsule pills in a hummer bus traveling from Enugu to Zuba.

The statement noted that follow-up operations carried out in Niger State led to the arrest of the owner of the consignment, Sunday Eze, 28, in Kontagora, following which he was transferred to Abuja.

Additionally, officers in Ondo State on Wednesday August 19 raided a cannabis plantation in Ijare forest, Ifedore Local Government Area, following the earlier arrest of three suspected cannabis growers at the same location on August 16.

According to the statement, the team destroyed a total of 10,000 kg of skunks cultivated in four hectares of forest.