A 34-year-old Ugandan woman, Farida Nansubuga, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency for allegedly attempting to smuggle 1.15 kilogrammes of cocaine from Nigeria to Uganda.
Nansubuga was apprehended on Tuesday, November 3, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, while preparing to board a flight to Uganda. The agency said 87 wraps of cocaine were discovered strapped around her pelvic region beneath two layers of underwear.
The NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, disclosed the arrest in a statement on Sunday, saying the suspect arrived in Nigeria on October 29 with members of her church for a prayer programme at the Synagogue Church of All Nations in the Ikotun-Egbe area of Lagos.
According to the agency, while other members of her delegation returned to Uganda after the religious programme, Nansubuga allegedly remained behind to collect the drugs for a friend identified as Joy, who lives in Uganda.
Babafemi said the suspect was intercepted during a joint passenger screening operation involving NDLEA operatives and aviation security personnel at Terminal 2 of the Lagos airport.
Preliminary investigations reportedly showed that a Nigerian contact arranged transportation for her to a hotel on the day of her departure, where an unidentified man allegedly handed over the cocaine. She was said to have told investigators that she expected to receive at least $1,000 for successfully delivering the consignment.
Reacting to the arrest, the NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), warned that drug trafficking networks were increasingly exploiting religious activities and international travels to recruit couriers. He commended the officers involved and urged personnel to sustain the agency's anti-drug operations.
In separate operations, the agency intercepted 750,000 tablets of Tapentadol worth about N900m at the Lagos airport, 16.15 kilogrammes of cannabis concealed in wooden sofas shipped from the United States, and 600 tablets of Tramadol hidden in women's headwear. It also recovered 46 blocks of cannabis weighing 22.2 kilogrammes from consignments destined for the United Kingdom.
