: NDLEA Nabs China-Bound Businesswoman with 7.5kg Cocaine, Busts N12.3bn Canadian ‘Loud’ at Lagos Port
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has arrested a 38-year-old businesswoman, Iwebema Ogechi Peace, at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, with 7.5 kilograms of cocaine concealed in her luggage, as part of a week-long crackdown that also netted N12.3 billion worth of Canadian cannabis at Apapa port.
Iwebema was picked up on Sunday, June 21, 2026, at the departure hall of Terminal 2 while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to Beijing, China. NDLEA operatives, acting on intelligence, found four large parcels of cocaine hidden in a professionally created false bottom in her check-in bag. The suspect claims she travels to China to buy goods for sale in Nigeria.
In a separate major interdiction, two Special Operations Units tracked a 40ft container with 195 sacks of “Canadian Loud,” a potent cannabis strain, for over four weeks. The container, with a street value of N12,397,500,000, was recovered on Wednesday, June 23, during a joint examination at Apapa port with Customs and other agencies. The shipment arrived Toronto on April 25, transited Morocco and Tincan port, before reaching Apapa on June 22.
“These seizures show the reach of our intelligence and inter-agency collaboration,” NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa, Rtd, said while commending MMIA, SOUs, Apapa, FCT, Anambra and Lagos Commands. He urged officers to sustain both drug supply reduction and WADA sensitisation efforts.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives in Abuja and Anambra have uncovered a syndicate that plants illicit drugs in passengers’ luggage at motor parks. On June 20 at Abaji, FCT, operatives intercepted a Sienna bus from Nnewi with 467.7 grams of methamphetamine concealed in a passenger’s bag. The receiver, Mrs Gloria Peter, denied ownership, leading to the arrest of the bus loaders in Nnewi. One loader said the driver, Abdurrazak Isah, directed him to hide the drugs for passenger Onyebuchi Victor Okoye, who was later arrested at Utako, FCT.
Other arrests include 57-year-old Ikechukwu Uwakwe on June 27 at Iddo, Lagos, with 209.50kg of Scottish Loud heading to Enugu; and Benin Republic nationals Hossou Tito Julien, 30, and Mancellim Dossou, 19, with Nigerian Jackson ThankGod, nabbed on Mile 2 Bridge on June 21 with 558,900 pills of Tramadol 250mg hidden in a truck’s false compartment. Lucky Abonga and Osas Azamobo were also arrested on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway on June 26 with 118kg of skunk.
In Lagos, Helen Ese Idiji, 40, and Rashidat Sa’adullah, 53, were arrested on June 26 at Amukoko with 28.8kg of skunk. Investigators said Helen stored her consignments with Rashidat for distribution.
Across the country, NDLEA continued its War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, with lectures at schools in Yobe, Lagos, Kano, Kogi and Enugu states. Marwa charged all commands “not to rest on their oars” as the Agency intensifies operations ahead of more port and airport interdictions.
