NDLEA Arrests Widow Using Fake Pregnancy to Traffic Cocaine (+PHOTOS)

A 50-year-old widow and fashion designer, Mrs Ifeoma Henrietta Ezewuike, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for attempting to traffic 1.3 kilograms of cocaine, using a fake pregnancy as a façade to evade scrutiny and detection.

The widow, a mother of one and proprietress of Golden Star Creation, a fashion outfit located on Ago Palace Way, Okota, Lagos, was apprehended at a bus terminal in Jibowu, Yaba area of the state on Friday, 22nd August 2025, while attempting to deliver the cocaine consignment to customers in Abuja.

A follow-up operation at her residence in the Ago Palace area led to the recovery of 200 grams of cutting agent used in the production of a cocaine strain. In her statement, Ezewuike claimed she inherited the trade from her late husband, who died two years ago, while she has been engaged in the fashion business for two decades.

Not less than 90 parcels of Loud, a strain of cannabis weighing 48.6kg, imported from the United States and concealed in three cartons of kitchen sinks, were intercepted at a courier company in Lagos on Tuesday, 19th August, by NDLEA officers of the Directorate of Operation and General Investigation (DOGI).

In Adamawa, NDLEA operatives, acting on credible intelligence, on Friday, 22nd August, raided the home of notorious drug dealer Idris Garba, who scaled the fence to escape arrest. However, one of his associates, Boniface Nnaji, 55, who attempted the same, was caught in the act at Rumde Baru, Yola South.

Recovered from the premises was a black Toyota Tundra jeep, marked FST-885-CZ, which Nnaji had driven to Yola to supply Garba with 354,480 pills of tramadol (225mg, 250mg, and other variants), as well as a Toyota Yaris car with registration number DSA 776 AA.

In Kogi State, a total of 5,000 capsules of tramadol, 400 ampoules of pentazocine injection, and 200 ampoules of diazepam injection were seized from a suspect, Neche Okonkwo, at Idah waterside after crossing the River Niger from Onitsha, Anambra State, to Lokoja on Wednesday, 20th August.

In Kano, the duo of Buhari Ibrahim, 25, and Mansur Musa, 24, were arrested at Zangon Dakata, Ungogo, with 5,850 capsules of pregabalin on Tuesday, 19th August. That same day, 452,070 opioid pills were recovered from the home of a suspect, Rabilu Mukhtar, who is at large, at Rangaza, Ungogo LGA. On the same date, Buhari Idris, 35, was arrested at Tashan Rami with 140 litres of codeine syrup. Similarly, no fewer than 7,000 capsules of tramadol were seized from Adamu Yusuf, 29, along Zaria–Kano Road, Kwanar Dangora area, on Saturday, 23rd August.

A total of 2,289.49 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis, were intercepted in three interdiction operations by NDLEA operatives in Kwara State. While 1,232.86kg was recovered from a Mitsubishi Canter truck, marked ZUR 66 XT, on Wednesday, 20th August, at Ajase-Ipo with a suspect, Kabiru Abdullahi, arrested, another consignment weighing 328.42kg was seized from Paul Olaniran, 47, in a Mercedes Benz truck marked LSD 659 YE, at the same location on the same day.

On Thursday, 21st August, NDLEA operatives intercepted yet another consignment of skunk weighing 728.21kg in a Mitsubishi Canter truck with registration number GAD 287 XA, at Ajase-Ipo Junction, Ifelodun LGA, where two suspects, Abubakar Zaki, 44, and Yau Babangida, 45, were arrested. Similarly, two suspects, Awe Sunday, 50, and Ayodele Adedayo, 54, were nabbed at Alafia Quarters, Ikere-Ekiti, Ekiti State, in connection with the seizure of 96kg of skunk.

In Taraba, NDLEA operatives, in conjunction with Civil Defence Corps personnel, on Wednesday, 20th August, destroyed 7,500kg of skunk cultivated on three hectares of farmland at Dadin Kowa village, Bali LGA, while 901kg of the substance was recovered from a warehouse at Uzebba, Owan West LGA, Edo State, where a 54-year-old female suspect, Fodo Stella Sunday, was arrested on Tuesday, 19th August.

In other Edo State operations, a total of 14,233.37kg of skunk were destroyed on four plantations measuring 5.69375 hectares at Ebule forest, Owan West LGA, on Wednesday, 20th August.

In Delta State, NDLEA operatives supported by the military destroyed 25,500kg of skunk cultivated on four plantations measuring 10.2 hectares in Emu-Obiogu community, Ndokwa West LGA, on Thursday, 21st August. In Ondo State, 25,025kg of the same substance was destroyed on three farms with a combined size of 10.01 hectares at Asolo camp, Uso area.

Two despatch riders were arrested on Thursday, 21st August, in a stop-and-search operation in Jabi, Abuja, for distributing illicit substances in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Garba Sule, 29, was caught with 300 milligrams of pentazocine injection, while Isaac Augustine, 35, was arrested with 8.64 grams of skunk packaged for delivery.

Meanwhile, NDLEA commands and formations nationwide continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces, and communities over the past week. These included WADA enlightenment lectures for women and teachers at Women Islamiyya School, Kanti Central Mosque, Katsina; for students and staff of Fathul Bari Islamiyya, Hayin Gwarmai, Bebeji LGA, Kano; while the Abia State command paid a WADA advocacy visit to Governor Alex Otti. Similarly, the Zone 4 command of the Agency paid a WADA advocacy visit to HRH Andoma of Doma, Alhaji Ahmadu Aliyu Ogah, in his palace in Doma, Nasarawa State.

Commending the officers and men of DOGI, and the Lagos, Kano, Kogi, Kwara, Taraba, Delta, Adamawa, FCT, Ondo, Ekiti, and Edo commands for their arrests, seizures, and professionalism, the Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retired), urged them and their colleagues across the country to sustain the Agency’s balanced approach to drug control.