NDLEA arrests Ugandan woman with 87 cocaine wraps concealed in underwear

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 34-year-old Ugandan woman, Farida Nansubuga, for attempting to smuggle 1.15 kilogrammes of cocaine out of Nigeria.

The suspect was intercepted on Tuesday, November 3, at Terminal 2 of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos. Aviation security personnel and NDLEA officers discovered 87 wraps of cocaine strapped beneath two layers of underwear around her pelvic region during a joint passenger screening exercise.

According to the agency, Nansubuga arrived in Nigeria on October 29 with members of her church for a prayer session at the Synagogue Church of All Nations in Ikotun-Egbe, Lagos. While her delegation returned to Uganda, she allegedly stayed behind to collect the narcotics from an unidentified man at a hotel.

Preliminary investigations revealed that she was trafficking the drugs on behalf of a Ugandan resident identified as Joy. The suspect confessed she was expecting a payment of at least $1,000 upon successful delivery.

The NDLEA Chairman, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd), condemned the trend of drug cartels using religious cover for criminal activities.

“The case of the Ugandan woman is a sad reminder that drug cartels will stop at nothing, including exploiting faith and religious travel, to recruit couriers for their deadly trade. I urge officers across all commands to sustain the tempo of their supply and demand reduction efforts.”

In a related development, NDLEA officers at the Lagos airport intercepted 750,000 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg with an estimated street value of N900 million. 
The 526-kilogramme consignment arrived from Ahmedabad, India, aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight on November 3 and was falsely declared as Paracetamol tablets.

The agency also recorded multiple seizures of illicit drugs concealed in cargo shipments. Operatives recovered 32 parcels of Loud weighing 16.15 kilogrammes hidden inside two wooden sofas shipped from Houston, United States.

Meanwhile, ongoing inspections yielded the interception of shipments destined for the United Kingdom, including 600 tablets of Tramadol 225mg concealed in female headwear and 46 blocks of cannabis weighing 22.2 kilogrammes packed inside cartons.