NDLEA Arrests Widow Who Used Fake Pregnancy to Traffic Cocaine

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 to evade scrutiny and detection.

According to NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, the widow—who is a mother of one and proprietress of Golden Star Creation, a fashion outfit along Ago Palace Way, Okota, Lagos—was apprehended at a bus terminal in Jibowu, Yaba, on Friday, 22nd August 2025. She was caught while attempting to move the illicit drug consignment to customers in Abuja.

Babafemi added that a follow-up search of her residence in Ago Palace led to the recovery of 200 grams of cutting agent used in producing a strain of cocaine.

“In her statement, Ezewuike claimed she inherited the criminal trade from her late husband, who died two years ago, even though she has been in the fashion business for 20 years,” Babafemi disclosed.

In a related operation, NDLEA officers of the Directorate of Operation and General Investigation (DOGI) intercepted 90 parcels of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, weighing 48.6kg. The consignment, imported from the United States and concealed in three cartons of kitchen sinks, was seized at a courier company in Lagos on Tuesday, 19th August.

Elsewhere, NDLEA operatives in Adamawa raided the residence of a notorious drug dealer, Idris Garba, on Friday, 22nd August. Garba escaped by scaling a fence, but his associate, 55-year-old Boniface Nnaji, was caught in the act at Rumde Baru, Yola South. Seized from the premises were a black Toyota Thundra jeep (FST-885-CZ) and a Toyota Yaris car (DSA 776 AA) loaded with 354,480 pills of tramadol.

In Kogi State, 5,000 capsules of tramadol, 400 ampoules of pentazocine injection, and 200 ampoules of diazepam injection were intercepted from one Neche Okonkwo at Idah waterside on Wednesday, 20th August. He had ferried the opioids across the River Niger from Onitsha, Anambra State, into Lokoja.

Similar arrests were recorded across Kano, Kwara, Ekiti, Taraba, Edo, Delta, and Ondo States. Highlights include:

Kano: Arrest of Buhari Ibrahim, 25, and Mansur Musa, 24, with 5,850 capsules of pregabaline; recovery of 452,070 opioid pills from the residence of a fleeing suspect, Rabilu Mukhtar; arrest of Buhari Idris, 35, with 140 litres of codeine syrup; and seizure of 7,000 tramadol capsules from Adamu Yusuf, 29.

Kwara: Interception of three major cannabis consignments totaling 2,289.49kg in Ajase-Ipo area, with four suspects arrested.

Ekiti: Arrest of Awe Sunday, 50, and Ayodele Adedayo, 54, with 96kg of skunk in Ikere-Ekiti.

Taraba: Destruction of 7,500kg of cannabis on three hectares of farmland in Bali LGA.

Edo: Seizure of 901kg of skunk from a warehouse in Owan West LGA, with 54-year-old Fodo Stella Sunday arrested, in addition to the destruction of over 14,233kg of cannabis plantations in Ebule forest.

Delta & Ondo: Joint operations with the military led to the destruction of over 50,000kg of cannabis cultivated across more than 20 hectares of farmland.

In Abuja, two dispatch riders—Garba Sule, 29, and Isaac Augustine, 35—were arrested on Thursday, 21st August, for distributing illicit substances in the Federal Capital Territory. Sule was caught with 300mg of pentazocine injection, while Augustine was in possession of 8.64 grams of skunk.

Meanwhile, NDLEA commands nationwide intensified War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization campaigns, conducting enlightenment programs in schools, religious centres, workplaces, and communities. These included advocacy visits to Governor Alex Otti of Abia State and HRH Andoma of Doma, Alhaji Ahmadu Aliyu Ogah, in Nasarawa State.

Commending the agency’s officers for their diligence, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), urged operatives to sustain the balanced approach in drug control through both enforcement and sensitization.