Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have arrested a 101-year-old great-grandmother for dealing in illicit drugs in Ogun State.
The centenarian, identified as Esther Ogunmabo, was arrested in Ilisan with retail sachets of skunk, a strain of cannabis, weighing 90 grammes, which she claimed she sold to locals.
A statement on Sunday by the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said the 101-year-old woman told operatives that she started engaging in the illicit drug trade after her provisions shop was razed by fire.
“The centenarian told operatives that she resorted to the illicit drug trade after her provisions shop was razed by fire, adding that one of her daughters, who resides in Lagos, arranges the supply of the substance to her every four days, which she in turn sold in bits,” the statement read.
Babafemi said the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), directed that the suspect be granted bail and placed on counselling because of her advanced age, while her daughter had been arrested.
In a related development, the NDLEA said its operatives in Akwa Ibom State intercepted a wooden boat on the high seas on Friday, August 21, conveying illicit drugs to fishing settlements in the Republic of Cameroon.
Three suspects arrested aboard the boat were identified as Etima Effiong Eekpo, 29, caught with 1.120kg of skunk; Otobong Eyoh Etukudoh, 33, who had 42.060kg of skunk; and 27-year-old Kingsley Effiong John, who was found with 20 grammes of cocaine cleverly concealed inside a large wrap of edible cassava fufu, alongside 435 grammes of skunk. A total of 42.622kg of narcotics was recovered from the three suspects.
Babafemi also disclosed that the agency recorded its first-ever seizure of illicit drugs shipped from Thailand through the maritime corridor, following the interception of two containers of cannabis indica, also known as Loud, at the Apapa and Lekki ports, with a combined street value put at over N4.4 billion.
At the Apapa Port, a container declared to be conveying dry fish, rice, vehicle spare parts, turmeric soap and inverter batteries was found to contain 1,090.5kg of Thai Loud packed in 54 cartons comprising 2,181 sachets of 500 grammes each.
At the Lekki Deep Sea Port, another container monitored by the NDLEA’s Marine Special Operations Unit was jointly examined on Wednesday, August 19. Of the seven pallets found in the container, four were confirmed to be laced with Thai Loud, yielding 96 cartons made up of 400 parcels weighing a total of 400kg.
In the Federal Capital Territory, the agency intercepted three waybill packages containing 24,410 pills of tramadol capsules inside a Hummer bus travelling from Enugu to Zuba. A follow-up operation in Niger State led to the arrest of the owner of the consignment, Sunday Eze, 28, in Kontagora.
In Ondo State, operatives raided a cannabis farm at Ijare forest, Ifedore Local Government Area, destroying 10,000kg of skunk cultivated across four hectares. In a separate operation, 210kg of skunk was recovered at Ita-Ogbolu, Akure North LGA.
A raid in Kano led to the arrest of Chibuzor Madueke with 73.3kg of skunk, while in Lagos, three family members were arrested at the Seme border with 48kg of skunk. In Abia, NDLEA officers raided a residence where 14.4kg of Loud, 2.3kg of Colorado, 386 grammes of tramadol and 134 grammes of rohypnol were recovered.
Marwa commended officers across all commands and encouraged them to sustain the balanced approach to the agency’s drug-control efforts.
