NDLEA Arrests South African With 36.65kg Cocaine, 62-Year-Old Grandma With Cannabis

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 34-year-old South African woman, Qhina Beauty, with 36.65 kilogrammes of cocaine and a 62-year-old Nigerian-American grandmother, Anetor Gloria Ubong, with 9.45 kilogrammes of high-grade cannabis known as loud in separate operations at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

The agency disclosed the arrests on Sunday, October 25, as it reported a series of drug seizures and arrests across several states.

According to the NDLEA, Qhina was arrested on October 7 at the airport’s departure hall while preparing to board a Qatar Airways flight to South Africa through Doha. A search of her two travel bags reportedly uncovered 30 blocks of cocaine concealed with dried pepper, wrapped in cellophane tape and packed into seven parcels.

The suspect allegedly told investigators that she arrived in Nigeria on September 30 to collect the consignment. She reportedly said another South African woman recruited her and promised to pay her 20,000 South African rand upon successful delivery.

Further investigations led to the arrest of a 46-year-old Lagos-based car dealer, Uchenna Victor Umunnakwe, on October 14 at Apple Junction, Ago Palace Way. The agency alleged that he received Qhina at the airport and arranged accommodation for her before her planned departure.

In a separate operation on October 21, NDLEA operatives arrested Ubong following her arrival from Houston, United States, aboard a United Airlines flight.

Ubong, a realtor based in Richmond, Texas, who holds Nigerian and United States passports, was allegedly found with 18 parcels of loud weighing 9.45kg. The substance was reportedly concealed with gift-wrapping paper inside a box in her checked-in luggage.

She allegedly told investigators that her daughter and the daughter’s prospective brother-in-law had delivered the package to her home in the United States for onward delivery in Nigeria to her daughter’s fiancé.

The arrests formed part of wider operations that yielded drug seizures in Lagos, Delta, Kano, Bauchi, Niger, Edo, Ondo, Taraba and Oyo states.

NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brigadier-General Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers involved in the operations and urged personnel to sustain efforts against drug trafficking and substance abuse.

The suspects’ alleged involvement remains subject to investigation and judicial determination.