By Our Reporter
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 34-year-old Ugandan woman, Farida Nansubuga, for allegedly attempting to smuggle 1.15 kilogrammes of cocaine from Nigeria to Uganda.
Nansubuga was arrested on Tuesday, November 3, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, while preparing to board a flight to Uganda.
The agency said 87 wraps of cocaine were recovered from her pelvic region, where they had been concealed beneath two layers of underwear.
The NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, explaining that the suspect arrived in Nigeria on October 29 with members of her church for a prayer session at the Synagogue Church of All Nations in the Ikotun-Egbe area of Lagos.
According to the statement, other members of her delegation returned to Uganda after the religious programme, but Nansubuga allegedly remained behind to collect the cocaine on behalf of a friend identified as Joy, who resides in Uganda.
Babafemi said she was intercepted during a joint passenger screening exercise involving NDLEA operatives and aviation security personnel at Terminal 2 of the Lagos airport.
Preliminary investigations reportedly revealed that a contact in Nigeria arranged a vehicle to convey her to a hotel on the morning of her scheduled departure, where an unidentified man handed over the illicit consignment.
The suspect allegedly told investigators that she was instructed to conceal the cocaine beneath her clothing to evade airport security checks.
She reportedly said she expected to receive at least $1,000 upon successfully delivering the drugs in Uganda, although no definite payment arrangement had been agreed upon.
Reacting to the arrest, NDLEA Chairman, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), described the incident as a disturbing indication of how drug cartels exploit religious activities and international travel to recruit couriers.
Marwa commended the officers involved in the operation and urged personnel across the agency’s commands to sustain their efforts against drug trafficking and substance abuse.
In another operation at the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives intercepted 750,000 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg, weighing 526 kilogrammes and estimated to be worth N900 million.
Babafemi said the consignment, which arrived from Ahmedabad, India, aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight, was falsely declared as Paracetamol 500mg tablets.
The drugs were reportedly packed in 11 cartons concealed inside two wooden structures before being brought into the airport’s import shed.
The agency also intercepted 32 parcels of a suspected cannabis strain known as Loud, weighing 16.15 kilogrammes, concealed inside two wooden sofas in a cargo shipment from Houston, United States.
In a separate operation, operatives recovered 600 tablets of Tramadol 225mg hidden in female headwear in a shipment destined for the United Kingdom.
Another 46 blocks of cannabis, weighing 22.2 kilogrammes, were also intercepted in two cartons being shipped to the UK.
The latest operations underscore the agency’s ongoing efforts to dismantle drug trafficking networks and prevent the movement of illicit substances through Nigeria’s airports and cargo channels.