The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has rearrested an 83-year-old woman, Uloma Uchechi Sunday, for alleged drug trafficking, barely a year after she and her daughter were convicted of drug-related offences.
The agency said Uloma was arrested on Wednesday, October 7, at her residence in Ite-Uzo, Umuaguma, Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State, with consignments of methamphetamine and Colorado allegedly tied around her waist with a wrapper.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the arrest followed intelligence indicating that the woman operated a drug joint allegedly patronised by criminal elements terrorising the community.
Babafemi recalled that operatives arrested Uloma and her 32-year-old daughter, Chisom Uchechi, at the same residence on May 17, 2025.
The agency said 50 grammes of methamphetamine, 522 grammes of skunk, 260 grammes of fresh cannabis leaves and 12 grammes of tramadol were recovered during the operation.
Both women pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment or a fine of ₦200,000 each. They paid the fines and were released, according to the statement.
Babafemi alleged that Uloma returned to the illicit trade after her release and subsequently established a drug joint.
In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives arrested a South African woman, Gebashe Sithandiwe Jessie, at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, Rivers State, for allegedly importing 30 parcels of Thai Loud weighing 32.74 kilogrammes.
The agency said the cannabis strain was concealed in two travelling bags. Babafemi added that the suspect travelled from Thailand through Doha aboard Qatar Airways flight QR1431.
According to the statement, Jessie confessed to previously trafficking drugs through other African countries before attempting to expand her route to Port Harcourt.
At the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, operatives intercepted 354,000 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg weighing 307.20kg in a shipment from Pakistan.
Babafemi said the consignment arrived aboard a Royal Air Maroc flight on September 29 and was placed under surveillance. A joint examination on Tuesday, October 6, led to the discovery of the tablets in nine cartons.
In another operation at the Lagos airport, officers intercepted 70 parcels of Colorado weighing 75.90kg in six Ghana-Must-Go bags concealed in consolidated cargo from the United Kingdom.
delivering lectures to students and staff of schools in Oyo, Ebonyi, Niger, Kano, Lagos and Ogun states.
The institutions reached included Progressive Grammar School, Tede, Oyo State; Eghugo Technical College, Afikpo, Ebonyi State; Baptist High School, Lambata, Niger State; and Ipara Senior and Junior Community Secondary School, Badagry, Lagos State.
Commending personnel involved in the operations, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), praised officers of the Lagos, Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Port Harcourt International Airport, Taraba, Kano, Kaduna, Edo, Cross River, Ondo and Plateau Commands.
Babafemi said Marwa commended the officers for their professionalism and intelligence-driven operations, urging them to sustain what he described as the agency’s balanced approach to drug control.
