NDLEA arrests Ugandan woman at Lagos airport over 87 cocaine wraps

Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency said it arrested Farida Nansubuga, a 34-year-old Ugandan citizen, at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos after officers found 87 packets of cocaine weighing 1.15 kilograms hidden under her clothes. The NDLEA said Nansubuga was stopped at Terminal 2 on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, during a joint check with airport security staff and was scheduled to take a Uganda Airlines flight back to Uganda. A first search suggested she had an item around her pelvic area, and officers took her to a private space for a more detailed search. The agency said: "This led to the recovery of eighty-seven (87) wraps of cocaine with a gross weight of 1.150 kilograms, strapped around her pelvic region and held in place beneath two layers of underwear." According to the agency, Nansubuga told investigators she reached Nigeria on October 29 with other members of her church for a prayer session at the Synagogue Church of All Nations in Ikotun-Egbe, Lagos. She said the rest of the group returned to Uganda after the session, while she remained to pick up a consignment for a friend in Uganda whom she identified only as Joy. Nansubuga said Joy connected her with a Nigerian man who arranged transportation to a hotel on the morning she was due to leave. She told investigators the man gave her the cocaine at the hotel and told her to hide it under her clothing so it would not be detected at the airport. No payment had been agreed, she said, but she expected to get at least $1,000 if she delivered the package. In another operation at the Lagos airport, the NDLEA said it seized 750,000 tablets of tapentadol, an opioid, on Friday, November 6. The 250mg tablets weighed 526 kilograms and had a street value estimated at ₦900 million, the agency said. The shipment was declared as 500mg paracetamol tablets and arrived on November 3 on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Ahmedabad, India. Officers kept the 11 cartons under surveillance before checking them with the Nigeria Customs Service and other agencies. Ten cartons held tapentadol, while the remaining carton contained paracetamol. On November 4, officers at the airport’s import shed intercepted 32 parcels of a cannabis strain called Loud that weighed 16.15 kilograms. The NDLEA said the parcels were hidden inside two wooden sofas in a consolidated shipment from Houston, Texas, that arrived on a Turkish Airlines flight. Freight agent Ibrahim Abdulwaheed Adewale was arrested when he came to clear the cargo. On November 6, officers arrested Adeoye Sarafa Ojo, a 34-year-old caterer from Ibadan, when he arrived to collect it. Ojo said a friend, Taiwo Anuoluwapo Olusegun, had sent him. The agency also reported intercepting nine parcels hidden in two cartons of snacks labeled "Michael Tea Guy" that arrived from the United Kingdom on an Air Peace flight on October 23. Two parcels held 1.20 kilograms of cannabis, while forensic testing found that the other seven contained chemicals used to make a synthetic cannabis product known as Colorado. Afolabi Abiodun Wale, a 51-year-old freight agent, was arrested when he came to clear the shipment. Two additional cartons addressed to the same recipient later arrived from the UK on an Allied Air flight. In an operation between October 26 and 28, officers arrested Okwuite Benjamin Ojone, 51, when he took delivery of all four cartons. A search of the extra cartons found three parcels weighing 3.30 kilograms inside detergent packs and 11 plastic bottles holding mostly liquid substances that weighed 16.25 kilograms. The agency said the total seizure was 1.20 kilograms of cannabis and 28.65 kilograms of chemicals used to make synthetic cannabis. At courier companies in Lagos, officers intercepted 46 blocks of cannabis weighing 22.2 kilograms in two UK-bound cartons on November 3. On October 30, they seized 296 Swinol tablets bound for Australia and three UK-bound tramadol shipments. Twenty capsules from Benin City and 96 from Sapele were hidden in vitamin C containers, while 600 tablets of 225mg tramadol from Asaba were concealed in women’s headwear. In the Marine Beach area of Apapa, Lagos, officers arrested Abubakar Ali, 32, on November 6. The agency said it recovered 6.07 kilograms of cannabis, 1.06 kilograms of 250mg tramadol, 1.27 kilograms of 225mg tramadol, 400 grams of pregabalin, 355 grams of diazepam and 200 millilitres of codeine from a storage space inside his apartment. In Ondo State, the NDLEA said officers recovered 148 bags of cannabis weighing 1,818 kilograms on Odofin Road in Uso on November 6. In a separate raid at Board Forest that day, officers destroyed one hectare of cannabis plants, recovered 242 kilograms of the drug and arrested Itoro Linus Akpan, 36. In neighboring Ekiti State, officers arrested Agbo Paul Peter, 53, at Osin Forest on November 5 with 216 kilograms of cannabis and cannabis seeds. In Edo State, officers stopped a Volkswagen Golf carrying 19 bags of cannabis weighing 201 kilograms along the Auchi–Ibillo road on November 6. They arrested the driver, Abdulmumid Isah, 39, and a passenger, Danako Godwin, 25. In a separate raid on Ihama Road in Benin City, officers arrested Emmanuel Sunday, 25, Samuel Bala, 31, and Loveth Momodu, 20, and reported recovering quantities of Colorado, Loud and cannabis. In Taraba State, officers at the Lankaviri checkpoint in Yorro Local Government Area seized 283 blocks of compressed cannabis weighing 226.255 kilograms over two days. The agency said it arrested Ibrahim Abdullahi, 45, with 156 blocks weighing 149.275 kilograms and Kabiru Usman, 25, with 80 blocks weighing 40.07 kilograms on November 5. Officers arrested Babangida Babayo, 32, the following day with 47 blocks weighing 36.91 kilograms. In Enugu State, officers arrested Celestine Uzochukwu Ejiakor, 57, at the Eke Obinagu checkpoint on November 3 with 44 blocks of cannabis weighing 22.5 kilograms. At the Ugwuoba checkpoint, they arrested Godwin Shaapera, 40, with 24,000 tramadol capsules weighing 13.4 kilograms and 697 grams of ketamine. In Delta State, the agency said officers arrested Edugua Othuke, 30, in Ozoro on October 31 with 10.54 kilograms of skunk, 9.4 kilograms of cannabis seeds and 4.3 grams of methamphetamine. Officers also arrested Akpofure Tobore, 34, in Upper Agbarho, Ughelli, on November 4 and reported recovering quantities of skunk, tramadol, Rohypnol and laughing gas. The NDLEA said its commands continued drug awareness work under its War Against Drug Abuse campaign. Officers held sessions at schools in Oyo, Ebonyi, Kano and Anambra states, while the agency’s Zone 1 Command visited the Emir of Bauchi, Alhaji Rilwanu Sulaiman Adamu, at his palace. NDLEA Chairman Mohamed Buba Marwa commended officers involved in the arrests and seizures. He said Nansubuga’s case showed how trafficking networks could use religious travel to recruit couriers and urged officers to keep working to reduce both drug supply and demand.