A 36.65kg cocaine seizure at Lagos airport has led to the arrest of a South African woman and a Lagos car dealer, with investigators uncovering alleged links to a trafficking network spanning Nigeria, South Africa and the United States.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said the 34-year-old South African, identified as Qhina Beauty, was arrested while attempting to leave Nigeria with the cocaine consignment, triggering investigations that led to the subsequent arrest of the Nigerian car dealer accused of facilitating her movement.
The case took a significant turn when the agency traced the suspect’s activities to Uchenna Victor Umunnakwe, a 46-year-old car dealer arrested in Lagos after days of surveillance.
According to the NDLEA, Qhina was intercepted 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 travel bags uncovered 30 blocks of cocaine weighing 36.65kg, concealed in seven separate parcels and reportedly mixed with dried pepper before being wrapped in cellophane tape.
The agency said preliminary investigations revealed that Qhina arrived in Nigeria on September 30 specifically to collect the consignment.
During questioning, she allegedly told investigators that another South African woman recruited her and promised to pay 20,000 rand upon successful delivery of the drugs.
She reportedly identified two other alleged members of the network, one based in the United States and the other operating as a car dealer in Lagos.
The investigation led to Umunnakwe’s arrest on October 14 at Apple Junction, Ago Palace Way, Lagos, following surveillance at his Shasha residence.
The NDLEA said the suspect admitted receiving Qhina at the airport, arranging accommodation for her at Santiago Hotel in Amuwo-Odofin and later moving her to Cynarisso Hotel near the airport ahead of her planned departure.
His arrest has brought investigators closer to establishing the alleged support arrangements behind the attempted movement of the cocaine consignment.
However, the agency has not disclosed whether the suspected recruiter in South Africa or the alleged network member in the United States has been identified or arrested. It also did not provide details of any charges filed against the two arrested suspects.
In another international drug interception, NDLEA operatives arrested a 62-year-old Nigerian-American woman, Anetor Gloria Ubong, with 9.45kg of a synthetic cannabis substance known as loud after she arrived in Lagos from Houston, Texas.
Ubong, a realtor based in Richmond, Texas, was arrested on October 21 following her arrival aboard a United Airlines flight.
A search of her two checked-in boxes reportedly uncovered 18 parcels of the substance concealed in a box covered with gift-wrapping paper.
The suspect, who holds Nigerian and American passports, 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 NDLEA has not disclosed whether the intended recipient has been arrested or established a link between the case and the cocaine seizure.
Beyond the airport arrests, the agency reported major seizures of cannabis and pharmaceutical opioids in several states, including Lagos, Delta, Oyo, Kano, Taraba, Bauchi, Niger, Ondo and Edo.
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 haul 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 Niger State, officers intercepted 64,000 opioid pills, including tramadol and diazepam, along the Sabo-Kainji road in Borgu Local Government Area.
A separate operation in Bauchi State led to the arrest of Jamilu Mustapha, 45, also known as Last Card, with 379kg of cannabis packed in seven large sacks.
In Kano, officers arrested Murtala Lawan, 30, and seized 97.2kg of cannabis, while another operation in Taraba resulted in the arrest of Raiyanu Misa, 39, with 60.175kg of compressed cannabis.
The agency also recovered 583kg of abandoned cannabis from a farm in Akure South, Ondo State, and destroyed two cannabis farms in Edo State estimated to have a combined yield of more than two tonnes.
In Ibadan, Oyo State, operatives arrested Fajana Dada Oluwaseyi, 41, on October 19, after he allegedly escaped an earlier arrest in September, when officers seized 197.8kg of cannabis from his residence.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers involved in the operations and urged them to sustain intelligence-led efforts against drug trafficking and substance abuse.
The agency also reported continuing its War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation campaign in schools, religious centres, workplaces and communities across the country.
The arrests and seizures come as the agency pursues investigations into the alleged international trafficking links identified in the Lagos airport cocaine case.
While the arrest of the South African woman and the Lagos car dealer represents a significant development in the investigation, the identities and whereabouts of other alleged members of the network remain undisclosed.
