A 34-year-old Ugandan woman, Farida Nansubuga, who arrived in Nigeria with her church members for a prayer session at The Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) in Lagos, has been arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for attempting to smuggle cocaine out of the country. She was intercepted on Tuesday, 3rd November 2026, at Terminal 2, Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, while about to board a flight to Uganda, with 87 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.150kg strapped around her pelvic region beneath two layers of underwear. She claimed she stayed back after her delegation returned home to collect the consignment for a friend identified as Joy in Uganda, and expected to be paid not less than US$1,000 on successful delivery.
At the Lagos airport, NDLEA also seized 750,000 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg weighing 526kg and valued at N900 million, hidden in a consignment from India declared as Paracetamol Tablets 500mg, as well as 32 parcels of Loud cannabis weighing 16.15kg concealed inside two wooden sofas from Houston, Texas. The Agency also busted a syndicate importing chemicals for producing Colorado synthetic cannabis from the United Kingdom, recovering 1.20kg of cannabis and 28.65kg of synthetic cannabis chemicals, while courier interceptions yielded 46 blocks of cannabis heading to the UK, Swinol tablets heading to Australia, and tramadol shipments heading to the UK.
Across the country, NDLEA recorded further seizures and arrests in Lagos, Ondo, Ekiti, Edo, Taraba, Enugu and Delta states, including 1,818kg of cannabis recovered in Uso, Ondo, the destruction of a one-hectare cannabis farm, and hundreds of kilograms of cannabis, tramadol, codeine and other drugs seized from suspects. Commending the officers, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), said the case of the Ugandan woman is a sad reminder that drug cartels will stop at nothing, including exploiting faith and religious travel, to recruit couriers, and urged officers to sustain the tempo of supply and demand reduction efforts.
