NDLEA Arrests South African Woman With 36.65kg Cocaine, US-Based Grandma With 9.45kg Cannabis At Lagos Airport
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has arrested a 34-year-old South African woman, Qhina Beauty, with 36.65 kilogrammes of cocaine at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Lagos, and a 62-year-old Nigerian-American grandmother with 9.45kg of cannabis.
In a statement signed by its Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday, October 25, 2026, the agency said the arrests were part of operations across Lagos, Delta, Kano, Bauchi, Niger, Edo, Ondo, Taraba and Oyo States.
Qhina was arrested at the departure hall of the Lagos airport on October 7 while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to South Africa through Doha.
A search of her two travelling bags led to the recovery of 30 blocks of cocaine weighing 36.65kg. The drugs were mixed with dried pepper, wrapped in cello tape and packed into seven separate parcels.
During interrogation, she told operatives that she arrived in Nigeria on September 30 specifically to collect the consignment. She said another South African woman recruited her and promised to pay her R20,000 upon successful delivery.
She also identified two other alleged members of the syndicate, one based in the United States and the other a Lagos-based car dealer.
Further investigations led to the arrest of the 46-year-old car dealer, Uchenna Victor Umunnakwe, on October 14 at Apple Junction, Ago Palace Way, Lagos.
The agency said Umunnakwe admitted receiving Qhina at the airport, lodging her at Santiago Hotel in Amuwo-Odofin and later moving her to Cynarisso Hotel near the airport ahead of her departure.
In another operation at the Lagos airport, operatives arrested 62-year-old Anetor Gloria Ubong on Wednesday, October 21, after her arrival aboard a United Airlines flight from Houston, United States.
Ubong, a realtor who resides in Richmond, Texas, and holds Nigerian and US passports, was found with 18 parcels of high-grade cannabis known as loud, weighing 9.45kg, concealed with gift-wrapping paper inside a box in her checked-in luggage.
She reportedly claimed that her daughter and the daughter’s future brother-in-law delivered the box to her home in the US for onward delivery in Nigeria to her daughter’s fiancé, identified as Jibola.
Meanwhile, operatives arrested 41-year-old Eletu Rasheedat in the Eti-Osa area of Lagos on Friday, October 23, recovering 5,820 pills of diazepam, 780 tablets of tramadol, 3.7kg of skunk and 230.25 litres of skuchies.
In Delta State, 51-year-old Peter Ugochukwu was arrested in Warri with 29,350 capsules of tramadol, 6,620 tablets of tramadol 200mg, 4,116 bottles of codeine syrup, 11,340 tablets of Rohypnol and other opioids. He was transferred to the agency alongside a white Hummer bus by the Nigeria Police Force.
Other seizures include:
6kg skunk from 46-year-old physically challenged woman, Helen Bakporo Samson, in Warri on Oct 19
197.8kg cannabis-linked suspect, Fajana Dada Oluwaseyi, 41, arrested Oct 19 in Ibadan
97.2kg cannabis from Murtala Lawan, 30, in Gerawa, Kano on Oct 22
60.175kg cannabis from Raiyanu Misa, 39, at Lankaviri checkpoint, Taraba on Oct 23
64,000 pills of opioids from Emmanuel Ekene, 26, along Sabo-Kainji Road, Niger on Oct 19
379kg cannabis from Jamilu Mustapha, 45, in Ningi, Bauchi on Oct 21
583kg abandoned cannabis at Board-Ala farm, Akure South, Ondo on Oct 20
2,023.14kg cannabis destroyed on two farms in Ugbada Forest, Edo on Oct 18, plus 35kg from Mary Edokhai, 42
NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers of the MMIA, Kano, Lagos, Bauchi, Niger, Edo, Ondo, Taraba, Oyo and Delta Commands for their vigilance and intelligence-driven operations.
