NDLEA Arrests South African Woman with 36.65kg Cocaine at Lagos Airport
Kehinde Adeleye
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 34-year-old South African woman, Qhina Beauty, with 36.65 kilogrammes of cocaine at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
The agency also arrested a 46-year-old Lagos car dealer, Uchenna Umunnakwe, over his alleged links to the cocaine consignment, while a separate operation at the airport led to the seizure of 9.45 kilogrammes of a high-grade cannabis strain known as loud from a Nigerian-American realtor.
NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed the arrests in a statement on Sunday.
According to Babafemi, Beauty was arrested on October 7 at the airport’s departure hall while preparing to board a Qatar Airways flight to South Africa through Doha.
A search of her two travel bags reportedly led to the discovery of 30 blocks of cocaine concealed with dried pepper, wrapped in cellophane tape and packed into seven parcels.
The statement said Beauty told investigators that she arrived in Nigeria on September 30 specifically to collect the consignment. She allegedly said another South African woman had promised to pay her R20,000 to deliver the drugs.
Babafemi said the suspect identified two other alleged members of the syndicate, one based in the United States and the other a Lagos-based car dealer.
Following surveillance at Umunnakwe’s residence in Shasha, NDLEA operatives arrested him on October 14 at Apple Junction, Ago Palace Way, Lagos.
According to the agency, Umunnakwe admitted receiving Beauty at the airport, arranging her accommodation at Santiago Hotel in Amuwo-Odofin and later moving her to Cynarisso Hotel near the airport ahead of her departure.
In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives arrested Anetor Gloria Ubong, a 62-year-old Nigerian-American realtor based in Richmond, Texas, after she arrived at the Lagos airport aboard a United Airlines flight from Houston on October 21.
Babafemi said Ubong, who holds Nigerian and United States passports, was found with 18 parcels of loud weighing 9.45 kilogrammes. The drugs were allegedly concealed with gift-wrapping paper in one of her two checked-in boxes.
The statement said Ubong claimed her daughter and the daughter’s future brother-in-law had delivered the box to her home in the United States for onward delivery in Nigeria to her daughter’s fiancé, identified as Jibola.
The agency also reported several drug seizures and arrests across the country.
In Lagos, operatives arrested 41-year-old Eletu Rasheedat in the Eti Osa area on October 23, recovering 5,820 diazepam pills, 780 tramadol tablets, 3.7 kilogrammes of skunk and 230.25 litres of skuchies.
