NDLEA Busts Drug Rings: 83-Year-Old Grandma, South African Woman Nabbed in Separate Operations

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has once again apprehended Mrs. Uloma Uchechi Sunday, an 83-year-old grandmother, on suspicion of drug trafficking. This arrest comes less than a year after her conviction for a similar offence.

Operatives of the NDLEA arrested the octogenarian on Wednesday, October 7th, at her residence in Ite-Uzo, Umuaguma, Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State. She was found with quantities of Methamphetamine and Colorado, which were tied around her waist using a wrapper. This re-arrest followed credible intelligence reports indicating that Mrs. Sunday operates a notorious drug den frequented by criminal elements who terrorise the local community.

According to Femi Babafemi, the spokesperson for the NDLEA, Mrs. Sunday's initial brush with the law occurred on May 17th, 2025. On that occasion, NDLEA operatives arrested her at her village home alongside her 32-year-old daughter, Chisom Uchechi. They were found with 50 grams of methamphetamine, 522 grams of skunk, 260 grams of fresh cannabis leaves, and 12 grams of tramadol. Both women pleaded guilty and received a sentence of 12 months' imprisonment or a fine of N200,000 each. They subsequently paid the fine and were released by the court.

Babafemi stated, “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.”

In a separate incident at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, Rivers State, NDLEA operatives, collaborating with the Customs Service, intercepted a South African national identified as Gebashe Sithandiwe Jessie. She was found in possession of 30 parcels of Thai Loud, a cannabis variant weighing 32.74 kilograms, meticulously hidden inside two travelling bags. The suspect had arrived from Thailand via Doha on Qatar Airways flight QR1431. Jessie reportedly confessed to previous trafficking activities through other African nations and was in the process of expanding her route to Port Harcourt when she was caught.

Furthermore, an interdiction at the Lagos airport involved a consolidated cargo from the United Kingdom that arrived on September 29th. Surveillance led to the discovery of six Ghana-Must-Go bags containing 70 parcels of Colorado, a synthetic cannabinoid, weighing 75.90kg. The first arrest, clearing agent John Edrah, 54, was made on September 30th. Subsequently, Taofiq Ajibola, 54, an Uber driver, was apprehended while collecting one of the bags at a logistics company in Mafoluku, Oshodi. This was followed by the arrest of Adetunji Adebayo and Kazeem Damola Dosunmu, 48, a clothing trader, who arrived to pick up the remaining five bags. Ajibola claimed the drugs were sent by a UK-based associate named Lukman Sa'idu, while Dosunmu stated his consignments originated from another UK-based individual identified as Yusuf.

In yet another operation, NDLEA officers conducted a raid on Iyala Nkun village in Ikom Local Government Area, Cross River State, on Sunday, October 4th. This surveillance-led operation resulted in the arrest of Adama Inuwa, 46, who was found with 181 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 1,100kg, along with 17.15kg of cannabis seeds.