A suspected international cocaine trafficking network has come under scrutiny following the arrest of a 34-year-old South African woman with 36.65kg of cocaine at Lagos airport and the subsequent arrest of a Nigerian car dealer accused of helping to facilitate her movement ahead of an attempted international flight.
The operation, according to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), exposed alleged links involving suspects in South Africa, Nigeria and the United States, with investigators tracing the activities of the woman, identified as Qhina Beauty, to a Lagos-based car dealer, Uchenna Victor Umunnakwe.
Qhina was arrested on October 7 at the departure hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, while preparing to board a Qatar Airways flight to South Africa through Doha.
A search of her two bags reportedly uncovered 30 blocks of cocaine weighing 36.65kg. The consignment had been divided into seven parcels, wrapped in cellophane tape and mixed with dried pepper.
The NDLEA said the suspect arrived in Nigeria on September 30 specifically to collect the drugs. During questioning, she allegedly told investigators that another South African woman recruited her and promised to pay her 20,000 rand after successful delivery.
She reportedly identified two other alleged members of the network: one based in the United States and the other a car dealer operating in Lagos.
The investigation moved beyond the airport arrest, culminating in the apprehension of Umunnakwe on October 14 at Apple Junction, Ago Palace Way, Lagos, after days of surveillance at his Shasha residence.
According to the agency, the 46-year-old dealer admitted receiving Qhina at the airport and arranging accommodation for her at Santiago Hotel in Amuwo-Odofin.
He also reportedly acknowledged moving her to Cynarisso Hotel near the airport ahead of her planned departure.
The circumstances surrounding the hotel arrangements and the alleged involvement of other suspects could prove significant to investigators seeking to establish how the consignment was sourced, transported and intended to leave the country.
The NDLEA has not, however, publicly detailed the identities of the alleged recruiter in South Africa or the suspected network member in the United States, nor has it disclosed whether they have been arrested.
In a separate airport operation, the agency arrested a 62-year-old Nigerian-American woman, Anetor Gloria Ubong, after she arrived in Lagos from Houston, Texas, aboard a United Airlines flight.
Ubong, a realtor based in Richmond, Texas, holds Nigerian and American passports. NDLEA operatives reportedly found 18 parcels of a synthetic cannabis substance known as loud, weighing 9.45kg, concealed in a checked-in box covered with gift-wrapping paper.
The suspect allegedly told investigators that her daughter and the daughter’s future brother-in-law had delivered the package to her home in the United States for onward delivery to her daughter’s fiancé in Nigeria, identified as Jibola.
The agency has not disclosed whether the intended recipient has been arrested or whether investigators have established the source of the consignment.
The two airport arrests highlight separate alleged attempts to move illicit drugs across international borders, although the NDLEA has not indicated that the cases are connected.
Beyond the airport operations, the NDLEA reported significant seizures of cannabis and pharmaceutical opioids in several states.
In Warri, Delta State, operatives arrested 51-year-old Peter Ugochukwu with a large stockpile of suspected illicit pharmaceutical products, including 29,350 tramadol capsules, 6,620 tramadol tablets, 4,116 bottles of codeine syrup, 11,340 Rohypnol tablets and 3,500 diazepam tablets.
The seizure also included injectable substances and other drugs. The suspect was transferred to the NDLEA alongside a white Hummer bus by the Nigeria Police Force in Delta State.
In Kano, officers seized 97.2kg of cannabis and arrested a 30-year-old suspect, Murtala Lawan. Another operation in Taraba resulted in the arrest of Raiyanu Misa, 39, with 60.175kg of compressed cannabis.
In Bauchi State, operatives arrested Jamilu Mustapha, 45, also known as Last Card, and seized 379kg of cannabis packed in seven large sacks.
The agency also recovered 583kg of abandoned cannabis from a farm in Akure South, Ondo State, while two cannabis farms in Edo State were destroyed. The farms were estimated to have a combined yield of more than two tonnes.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended the officers involved in the operations and urged them to sustain intelligence-led efforts against drug trafficking and substance abuse.
The agency said its nationwide War Against Drug Abuse campaign also continued during the week, with sensitisation programmes held in schools and communities.
The NDLEA did not disclose the estimated street value of the cocaine seized from Qhina or provide further details on the status of investigations into the alleged international network.