The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 34-year-old South African woman and a 62-year-old Nigerian-American grandmother at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos, along with two other suspects, in operations spanning three weeks in October 2026.
South African Woman Apprehended with Cocaine
Qhina Beauty, 34, was apprehended on 7th October at the departure hall of MMIA, Ikeja, as she attempted to board a Qatar Airways flight to South Africa via Doha. Officers searching her two travelling bags found 30 blocks of cocaine, weighing 36.65 kilograms in total, laced with dried pepper, wrapped in cellotape and divided into seven separate parcels.
According to NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, Qhina told investigators she had flown into Nigeria on 30th September solely to collect the drug consignment. She said another South African woman recruited her for the job, promising R20,000 upon successful delivery, and that she was connected to two additional members of the network—one based in the United States and a car dealer operating in Lagos.
Car Dealer and Grandmother Arrested
The lead brought NDLEA operatives to Uchenna Victor Umunnakwe, 46, who was intercepted on 14th October at Apple Junction along Ago Palace Way, Lagos, following days of surveillance at his Shasha residence. He confirmed to investigators that he received Qhina upon her arrival, arranged her accommodation at Santiago Hotel in Amuwo-Odofin and later transferred her to Cynarisso Hotel, close to the airport, ahead of her scheduled departure.
In a separate operation at the same airport on 21st October, NDLEA arrested Anetor Gloria Ubong, a 62-year-old grandmother and property dealer based in Richmond, Texas, who holds dual Nigerian and American citizenship. She arrived on a United Airlines flight from Houston, and a search of her two checked-in boxes uncovered 18 parcels of "loud"—a variety of synthetic cannabis—weighing 9.45 kilograms, concealed beneath gift wrapping paper.
Anetor told officers the box had been delivered to her Texas home by her daughter and the daughter's future brother-in-law, with instructions to hand it over in Nigeria to her daughter's fiancé, identified only as Jibola.
Street-Level Dealer Nabbed in Eti Osa
In a further operation on 23rd October, NDLEA's special operations unit arrested Eletu Rasheedat, 41, in the Eti Osa area of Lagos. Officers recovered 5,820 pills of diazepam, 780 tablets of tramadol, 3.7 kilograms of skunk and 230.25 litres of skuchies from her.
The arrests follow an earlier NDLEA operation in which a Mexican cartel kingpin, Arturo Carrera Loaiza, was arrested at the Lagos airport on August 19, 2026, as he tried to flee Nigeria. NDLEA linked Loaiza to a clandestine methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State through CCTV footage and location data embedded in images recovered during the investigation, pointing to a wider transnational cartel network operating in Nigeria.
