101-year-old great-grandmother caught with drugs worth N4.4bn in Nigeria

101-year-old grandmother arrested with cannabis

A 101-year-old great-grandmother has found herself at the centre of one of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency’s latest nationwide crackdowns, after she was allegedly caught selling cannabis in Ogun State.

The arrest of Esther Ogunmabo is part of a wider series of operations that saw NDLEA operatives intercept major consignments of cannabis, cocaine, methamphetamine, tramadol and other controlled substances across several states.

The agency said two containers of cannabis indica, popularly known as “Loud,” intercepted at the Apapa and Lekki ports in Lagos alone had an estimated street value of more than N4.4 billion. The NDLEA described the seizures as its first interception of illicit drugs shipped from Thailand through the maritime corridor.

The agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed the latest operations in a statement on Sunday, August 23.

Centenarian caught with cannabis

Ogunmabo was arrested in Ilisan, Ogun State, on August 15 after operatives found 90 grammes of skunk packaged in small retail sachets.

According to the NDLEA, the elderly woman told investigators that she began selling cannabis after a fire destroyed her provisions shop. She allegedly said one of her daughters, who lives in Lagos, supplied the substance to her every four days.

Despite the allegation, the agency said her age prompted a different response from its chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd.).

101-year-old grandmother arrested with cannabis

Marwa directed that the 101-year-old be granted bail and placed under counselling, while the daughter identified as her alleged supplier was arrested.

The unusual arrest has drawn attention because it comes amid a broader series of NDLEA operations involving suspects of advanced age.

Cocaine hidden inside fufu

In Akwa Ibom, the agency uncovered another unusual method allegedly used to conceal narcotics.

NDLEA operatives intercepted a wooden boat on the high seas on August 21, reportedly bound for fishing settlements in Cameroon.

Three suspects were arrested and 42.622kg of narcotics recovered, including skunk and cocaine.

Among the seizures was 20 grammes of cocaine concealed inside a large wrap of edible cassava fufu, according to the agency.

The interception highlights the increasingly varied concealment methods being uncovered by narcotics officers along Nigeria’s maritime routes.

Thailand-to-Lagos drug route exposed

The biggest seizure in the latest operation came through Nigeria’s ports.

The NDLEA said the two containers carrying the “Loud” were loaded at Laem Chabang Port in Thailand, pointing to what the agency described as a newly identified maritime route for illicit drug trafficking.

At Apapa, a container declared to contain dry fish, rice, vehicle spare parts, turmeric soap and inverter batteries was subjected to a joint examination on August 21.

Instead, officers found 1,090.5kg of Thai Loud, packed in 54 cartons containing 2,181 sachets.

A second container monitored by the NDLEA’s Marine Special Operations Unit was intercepted at Lekki Deep Sea Port.

The agency said 400kg of Loud was hidden among pallets of A4 paper. Four of the seven pallets contained the drugs, while the remaining three held 798 rims of A4 paper, allegedly used to disguise the consignment.

The combined haul weighed 1,490.5kg, with the NDLEA putting its street value at more than N4.4 billion.

Crackdown stretches from Abuja to Abia

The nationwide operation extended well beyond the ports.

In the Federal Capital Territory, operatives intercepted 24,410 tramadol capsules being transported from Enugu towards Zuba. A follow-up operation in Kontagora, Niger State, led to the arrest of the alleged owner of the consignment.

In Ondo State, officers destroyed 10,000kg of skunk cultivated across four hectares of cannabis farmland in Ijare forest and separately recovered another 210kg of the drug in Ita-Ogbolu.

Kwara operatives intercepted 1.325kg of methamphetamine and cannabis, while a 22-year-old suspect was arrested.

In Oyo, a 65-year-old woman was arrested with 4.68kg of assorted controlled substances, including Loud, tramadol, codeine syrup, diazepam and flunitrazepam.

Elsewhere, Kano officers recovered 73.3kg of skunk, while three members of the same family were arrested near the Seme border in Lagos with 48kg of the substance.

In Abia, a raid on the residence of a 36-year-old suspect yielded Loud, Colorado, tramadol and Rohypnol.

A growing pattern of older suspects

Ogunmabo’s case is not an isolated example of elderly Nigerians being caught up in the agency’s drug-enforcement operations.

In April, NDLEA operatives arrested 93-year-old Pa Friday Ahukanna Chigbu in Abia State after recovering 7.7kg of skunk from his residence.

Earlier in July, a 67-year-old Nigerian-British woman was arrested at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos after the agency allegedly discovered 13kg of cocaine concealed in packages made to resemble plantains.

The latest operation therefore adds another striking case to an increasingly broad enforcement campaign.

NDLEA’s recent seizures put the scale in perspective

The arrests come barely a week after the NDLEA announced the destruction of 329,865.585kg of assorted illicit drugs and psychotropic substances in Lagos.

The agency valued the destroyed drugs at approximately N301.058 billion. The court-ordered exercise involved substances recovered in concluded uncontested cases and abandoned seizures, including cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, cannabis, tramadol, codeine syrup and other opioids.

The scale of that destruction, followed by the latest N4.4 billion Thai Loud seizure, underlines the size of the narcotics challenge facing Nigerian authorities.

For the NDLEA, however, the latest operations are about more than individual arrests. They also reveal the changing routes and tactics being used by trafficking networks — from international maritime shipments and concealed cargo to drugs hidden inside everyday food items.

And in Ogun, the arrest of a 101-year-old woman has added an unexpected human dimension to an increasingly aggressive national drug crackdown.