The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 50-year-old widow and fashion designer, Mrs. Ifeoma Henrietta Ezewuike, for attempting to smuggle cocaine with a fake pregnancy disguise. The arrest came amid a series of nationwide operations in which over 75,000kg of skunk and other narcotics were seized.
According to NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, Ezewuike, who runs Golden Star Creation fashion outfit in Ago Palace Way, Okota, Lagos, was intercepted on Friday, August 22, at Jibowu bus terminal, Yaba, while trying to move 1.3 kilograms of cocaine to Abuja. She allegedly strapped the drug to her stomach to appear pregnant and evade security checks.
In Adamawa, NDLEA operatives raided the home of a notorious dealer, Idris Garba, who escaped by scaling a fence. However, his associate, Boniface Nnaji, 55, was arrested in Yola South with 354,480 pills of tramadol and other opioids hidden in a Toyota Thundra jeep and a Toyota Yaris.
In Kogi, operatives seized 5,000 tramadol capsules, 400 ampoules of pentazocine, and 200 diazepam injections from Neche Okonkwo at Idah waterside after crossing the River Niger from Onitsha.
In Kano, multiple raids between August 19 and 23 led to the arrest of Buhari Ibrahim, 25, and Mansur Musa, 24, with 5,850 capsules of pregabalin; recovery of 452,070 pills of opioids from the home of a fleeing suspect, Rabilu Mukhtar; and the arrest of Buhari Idris, 35, with 140 litres of codeine syrup. Another suspect, Adamu Yusuf, 29, was caught with 7,000 tramadol capsules along the Zaria-Kano road.
In Kwara, NDLEA intercepted three major consignments of skunk weighing a total of 2,289.49kg in Ajase-Ipo, Ifelodun LGA. Arrests included Kabiru Abdullahi with 1,232.86kg, Paul Olaniran, 47, with 328.42kg, and two others, Abubakar Zaki, 44, and Yau Babangida, 45, with 728.21kg. Separately, in Ekiti, two men, Awe Sunday, 50, and Ayodele Adedayo, 54, were arrested with 96kg of skunk.
NDLEA also destroyed massive cannabis farms across several states:
- Taraba: 7,500kg on three hectares in Bali LGA.
- Edo: 14,233.37kg on 5.7 hectares in Owan West.
- Delta: 25,500kg on 10.2 hectares in Ndokwa West.
- Ondo: 25,025kg on 10 hectares in Uso area.
In Abuja, operatives arrested two dispatch riders on August 21. Garba Sule, 29, was found with 300mg of pentazocine injection, while Isaac Augustine, 35, was caught with 8.64g of packaged skunk.
Babafemi said the operations reflect NDLEA’s intensified crackdown on drug cartels and traffickers across the country.
