The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) detained a 101-year-old great-grandmother for distributing illicit substances.
Esther Ogunmabo, the great-grandmother, was caught in Ilisan, Ogun State, with retail sachets of skunk, a form of cannabis, weighing 90 grams and claiming to have sold them to locals.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, the centenarian informed operatives she began being involved in the illegal drug trade after her supplies shop was destroyed by fire.
The statement said in part, “Operations of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have recorded significant breakthroughs across the country’s land and maritime borders, including the arrest of a 101-year-old great-grandmother for dealing in illicit drugs.”
“NDLEA operatives on Saturday, August 15, 2026, arrested a 101-year-old woman, Esther Ogunmabo, in Ilisan, Ogun State, with retail sachets of skunk, a strain of cannabis, weighing 90 grams, which she claims she sells to locals.
“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.”
Babafemi stated that the chairman/chief executive officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), requested that the suspect be allowed bond and placed on counseling due to her senior age, while her daughter was detained.
In a related incident, he stated that NDLEA agents in Akwa Ibom State, acting on credible intelligence, intercepted a wooden boat on the high seas on Friday, August 21, transporting illegal substances to fishing villages in the Republic of Cameroon.
According to him, three suspects arrested aboard the boat, which was heading to Ine Isu, Ine Mbah, and Ine Ikot Itie Udung fishing ports in Cameroon, included Etima Effiong Eekpo, 29, caught with 1.120 kg of skunk; Otobong Eyoh Etukudoh, 33, who had 42.060 kg of skunk in his possession; and 27-year-old Kingsley Effiong John, who was found with 20 grams of cocaine cleverly concealed inside a large wrap of edible cassava fufu, alongside 435 grams of skunk.
“A total of 42.622 kg of narcotics was recovered from the trio,” Babafemi added.
In the nation’s maritime space, Babafemi stated that the agency made its first-ever seizure of illicit drugs shipped from Thailand via the maritime corridor after intercepting two containers of cannabis indica, also known as “Loud,” at the Apapa and Lekki ports, with a combined street value of more than N4.4 billion.
“Both containers were loaded at the Port of Laem Chabang, Thailand, underscoring the emergence of a new trafficking route being exploited by drug syndicates to smuggle synthetic cannabis into the country,” he added.
At Apapa Port, Babafemi stated that during a joint examination of the shipment on Friday, August 21, by the NDLEA, Customs, and others, a container declared to be conveying dry fish, rice, vehicle spare parts, turmeric soap, and inverter batteries was discovered to contain 1,090.5 kg of Thai Loud packed in 54 cartons containing 2,181 sachets of 500 grams each.
“At the Lekki Deep Sea Port, a similar container, which had been placed on the agency’s watchlist and monitored by its Marine Special Operations Unit, was jointly examined on Wednesday, 19th August. Of the seven pallets found in the container wrapped in black nylon, four were confirmed to be laced with Thai Loud, yielding 96 cartons made up of 400 parcels weighing a total of 400 kg. The remaining three pallets contained 798 rims of A4 paper, which had been used as cover for the consignment,” he said.
Babafemi stated that on Saturday, August 22, NDLEA agents seized three waybill bundles carrying 24,410 tramadol capsules inside a Hummer bus traveling from Enugu to Zuba in the FCT.
“A follow-up operation conducted in Niger State led to the arrest of the owner of the consignment, Sunday Eze, 28, in Kontagora, after which he was transferred to Abuja,” he said.
In Ondo, Babafemi claimed operatives stormed a cannabis farm in Ijare village, Ifedore Local Government Area, on August 19, after arresting three suspected cannabis planters there on August 16.
“The team destroyed a total of 10,000 kg of skunk, cultivated across four hectares of the forest. In a separate operation in the state, operatives, the same day at Ita-Ogbolu, Akure North LGA, recovered 210 kg of skunk and a Toyota Camry car with registration number AGL 223 JH belonging to Sylvester Dibiagu Anthony, who is currently at large,” he added.
“A raid at Hadeija Road, Kano, on Monday, August 17, led to the arrest of Chibuzor Madueke, 31, with 98 blocks of skunk weighing 73.3 kg recovered from him, while a similar operation by NDLEA operatives at Seme, Badagry area of Lagos, led to the arrest of three family members: Nasiru Tijjani, 52; Moshood Tijjani, 27; and Salami Tijjani, 27, at Ashipa area, near the Seme border, with 48 kg of skunk.
“In Abia State, NDLEA officers on Thursday, August 20, raided the residence of Ikechukwu Anthony Iwuno, 36, at the Umuobia Olokoro area of Umuahia South LGA, where 14.4kg Loud, 2.3kg Colorado, 386 grams of tramadol and 134 grams of rohypnol were recovered,” the statement added.
While commending the officers and men of the Ogun, Apapa, Lekki, Seme, Akwa Ibom, Ondo, Oyo, Kwara, Kano, Abia, and FCT Commands for their various successful operations, Marwa urged them and their colleagues across the country to maintain the agency’s current balanced approach to drug control efforts.
