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 her home country.
The agency disclosed that 87 wraps of cocaine were recovered from her pelvic region, where they had been concealed beneath two layers of underwear in an attempt to evade security checks.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the suspect arrived in Nigeria on October 29 alongside members of her church for a prayer session at the Synagogue Church of All Nations in the Ikotun-Egbe area of Lagos State.
However, while the other members of her delegation returned to Uganda after the religious programme, Nansubuga allegedly remained behind to collect a cocaine consignment on behalf of a friend identified as Joy, who resides in Uganda.
Babafemi said that the suspect was intercepted during a joint passenger screening operation involving NDLEA operatives and aviation security personnel at Terminal 2 of the airport.
He explained that preliminary investigations indicated that a contact in Nigeria had arranged transportation for her to a hotel on the morning of her departure, where an unidentified man allegedly handed over the drugs.
During questioning, Nansubuga reportedly admitted that she had been instructed to conceal the cocaine beneath her clothing before boarding her flight.
She also told investigators that she expected to receive at least $1,000 upon successfully delivering the consignment in Uganda, although no specific payment arrangement had been concluded.
Reacting to the arrest, the NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), described the incident as evidence of how drug trafficking networks exploit religious activities and international travel to recruit couriers.
Marwa commended the officers involved in the operation, urging personnel across the agency’s commands to sustain efforts against drug trafficking and substance abuse.
As the former military governor noted, criminal networks were exploiting legitimate activities, including religious pilgrimages, to facilitate the movement of illicit substances across international borders.
Away from the cocaine saga, , the agency disclosed that its operatives intercepted 750,000 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg, weighing 526 kilogrammes and valued at about N900m, at the Lagos airport.
The consignment, which arrived from Ahmedabad, India, aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight on November 3, was allegedly declared as Paracetamol 500mg tablets.
Babafemi said that the drugs were discovered on Friday, November 6, in 11 cartons concealed inside two wooden structures at the airport’s import shed.
In another operation, NDLEA operatives reportedly intercepted 32 parcels of a cannabis strain known as Loud, weighing 16.15 kilogrammes, concealed inside two wooden sofas in a cargo shipment from Houston, United States.
The agency also recovered 600 tablets of Tramadol 225mg hidden in female headwear in a shipment destined for the United Kingdom.
Additionally, 46 blocks of cannabis weighing 22.2 kilogrammes were intercepted in two cartons being transported to the UK.
The latest seizures seemed to underscore the NDLEA’s continued efforts to dismantle drug trafficking networks and prevent Nigeria from being used as a transit route for illicit substances.
