101-year-old woman arrested as NDLEA intercepts cocaine in fufu

The operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 101-year-old woman, Esther Ogunmabo, for allegedly dealing in illicit drug.

The NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, who disclosed this in a statement issued on Sunday, said the 101-year-old woman was apprehended with retail sachets of skunk, a strain of cannabis weighing 90 grams, which she claimed she sells to locals in Ilisan, Ogun State, on August 15, 2026.

Babafemi said the centenarian told NDLEA operatives that she resorted to the illicit drug trade after her provisions shop was razed by fire, adding that one of her daughters, who resides in Lagos, arranges the supply of the substance to her every four days, which she in turn sold in bits.

Babafemi noted that the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig Gen Mohamed Marwa (Rtd), has however directed that the woman be granted bail and placed on counselling because of her age, while her daughter has been arrested.

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In a related development, NDLEA operatives, while acting on credible intelligence in Akwa Ibom State on Friday, August 21, intercepted a wooden boat on the high seas conveying illicit drugs to fishing settlements in Cameroon.

Babafemi revealed that three suspects who were arrested on board the boat, which was heading to Ine Isu, Ine Mbah, and Ine Ikot Itie Udung fishing ports in Cameroon, include Etima Effiong Eekpo, 29, caught with 1.120kg skunk; Otobong Eyoh Etukudoh, 33, who had 42.060kg of skunk in his possession; and 27-year-old Kingsley Effiong John, who was found with 20grams of cocaine cleverly concealed inside a large wrap of edible cassava fufu, alongside 435grams of skunk.

He added that 42.622kg of narcotics was recovered from the trio.