NDLEA arrests Ugandan woman with 87 cocaine wraps at Lagos airport

The NDLEA said the cocaine was strapped around her pelvic region and concealed beneath two layers of underwear.

A 34-year-old Ugandan woman has been arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, with 87 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.15 kilogrammes, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has said.

In a statement on Sunday by the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the cocaine was strapped around her pelvic region and concealed beneath two layers of underwear.

The NDLEA said operatives became suspicious during a joint passenger screening exercise with aviation security personnel. A subsequent body search raised concerns that she had concealed something around her pelvic region, prompting officers to take her to a private search room, where they recovered the 87 wraps.

During questioning, Ms Nansubuga noted that she arrived in Nigeria on 29 October with members of her church for a prayer session at the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), in the Ikotun-Egbe area of Lagos.

She told investigators that the other members of the delegation had returned to Uganda after the prayer session, but she stayed behind to collect the cocaine for a friend, identified as Joy, who lives in Uganda.

According to the NDLEA, Ms Nansubuga noted that Joy linked her with a contact in Nigeria, who arranged a vehicle to take her to a hotel on the morning of her departure. The contact allegedly handed over the drugs and instructed her to conceal them beneath her clothing to avoid detection at the airport.

She reportedly said they had not agreed on a specific payment, but she expected to receive at least $1,000 after delivering the consignment.

The arrest comes amid other reported attempts to smuggle cocaine out of Nigeria using body concealment, mirroring Nigeria’s role as a transit bub in the global cocaine menace.

In May 2025, NDLEA operatives arrested a woman at the Port Harcourt International Airport over an alleged attempt to smuggle 2.523 kilogrammes of cocaine to Iran.

In a separate operation at the Lagos airport, the NDLEA intercepted 750,000 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg, weighing 526 kilogrammes and valued at N900 million.

The consignment arrived from Ahmedabad, India, on 3 November aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight. It was declared as Paracetamol 500mg tablets.

The agency said officers placed the shipment under surveillance after becoming suspicious of its declaration. They later examined it jointly with officials of the Nigeria Customs Service and other agencies on Friday, 6 November.

The tablets were packed in 11 cartons inside two wooden structures. Ten cartons contained Tapentadol, while the remaining carton held paracetamol tablets.

The seizure follows earlier large-scale opioid interceptions at Lagos ports. In September 2024, the NDLEA reported recovering 25 million Tapentadol tablets and 350,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup at the Tin Can Island Port. It valued the Tapentadol at N13.725 billion and the entire consignment at about N16.1 billion.

The agency also intercepted 32 parcels of Loud, a strain of cannabis, weighing 16.15 kilogrammes at the Lagos airport.

The drugs were concealed inside two wooden sofas in a consolidated cargo shipment from Houston, Texas, which arrived aboard a Turkish Airlines flight on Wednesday, 4 November.

A freight agent, Ibrahim Abdulwaheed Adewale, was arrested when he came to clear the consignment. Two days later, a 34-year-old caterer from Ibadan, Oyo State, Adeoye Sarafa Ojo, was arrested while attempting to collect the package.

Mr Ojo reportedly told investigators that a friend, Taiwo Anuoluwapo Olusegun, had sent him.

The NDLEA said it had also uncovered a suspected network importing chemicals from the United Kingdom for the production of Colorado, a synthetic cannabis.

The investigation began with the interception of nine parcels concealed in two cartons of snacks labelled “Michael Tea Guy”. The shipment arrived aboard an Air Peace flight from the UK on 23 October.

Two parcels contained 1.20 kilogrammes of cannabis, while forensic analysis showed that the other seven contained chemicals used in producing synthetic cannabis.

A 51-year-old freight agent, Afolabi Abiodun Wale, was arrested when he came to clear the shipment.

Two additional cartons addressed to the same recipient later arrived from the UK aboard an Allied Air flight. A sting operation between 26 and 28 October led to the arrest of another 51-year-old suspect, Okwuite Benjamin Ojone, when he came to collect the four cartons.

A search of the additional cartons uncovered three parcels weighing 3.30 kilogrammes, concealed in detergent packs, and 11 plastic bottles containing mostly liquid substances weighing 16.25 kilogrammes.

The NDLEA said the operation resulted in the seizure of 1.20 kilogrammes of cannabis and 28.65 kilogrammes of chemicals suspected to be used in producing synthetic cannabis.