Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have arrested a 101-year-old grandmother in possession of skunk and cannabis, as well as her daughter for supplying her the illicit drugs in Ogun State.
The NDLEA, in a statement on Sunday, said it also arrested other suspected drug dealers during separate operations in Akwa-Ibom, Lagos, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Ondo, Niger, Kwara, Oyo, and Abia.
The statement read, “Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 101-year-old woman for alleged drug dealing, intercepted cocaine concealed in edible cassava flour popularly known as fufu, and seized consignments of illicit drugs worth over N4.4 billion in separate operations across the country.
“The centenarian, identified as Esther Ogunmabo, was arrested on August 15, 2026, at Ilisan, Ogun State, with 90 grammes of skunk, a strain of cannabis, which she reportedly admitted selling in retail quantities. She told operatives that she turned to drug dealing after her provisions shop was destroyed by fire, adding that one of her daughters based in Lagos supplied her with cannabis every four days. NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), directed that she be granted bail and on counselling due to her advanced age, while her daughter was arrested.
“In Akwa Ibom, NDLEA operatives on August 21 intercepted a wooden boat conveying illicit drugs towards fishing settlements in Cameroon and arrested three suspects with 42.622kg of narcotics. The seizure included 42.06kg of skunk, 1.12kg of skunk, and 20 grammes of cocaine cleverly concealed inside a large wrap of edible cassava fufu, alongside 435 grammes of skunk.”
In what the agency described as its first seizure of illicit drugs shipped from Thailand through the maritime corridor, the agency said operatives intercepted “two containers of cannabis indica, popularly known as Loud, at the Apapa and Lekki ports in Lagos.”
The agency stated that although the Apapa container was declared to contain dry fish, rice, vehicle spare parts, turmeric soap and inverter batteries, it was discovered to contain “1,090.5kg of Thai Loud, while the Lekki container yielded 400kg. The combined street value of the consignments was put at over N4.4 billion.”
In another operation in the FCT, the NDLEA, “intercepted three waybill packages containing 24,410 tramadol capsules inside a Hummer bus travelling from Enugu to Zuba on August 22,” adding that a follow-up operation in Niger State, “led to the arrest of the alleged owner, 28-year-old Sunday Eze, in Kontagora.”
The NDLEA, in Ondo, also “destroyed 10,000kg of skunk cultivated across four hectares at Ijare forest, Ifedore LGA,” and also “recovered 210kg of skunk and a Toyota Camry at Ita-Ogbolu.
“Other operations led to the seizure of 1.325kg of methamphetamine and cannabis in Kwara; 4.68kg of assorted illicit drugs from a 65-year-old woman in Oyo; 73.3kg of skunk in Kano; 48kg of skunk from three family members near Seme in Lagos; and 14.4kg of Loud, 2.3kg of Colorado, tramadol and Rohypnol in Abia.” The NDLEA said.
The NDLEA also said it has sustained its War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation campaigns across schools, worship centres, workplaces, and communities in several states.
Mr Marwa commended officers and the commands for the successful operations and urged them to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control through enforcement, prevention and public education.
