Nigeria's NDLEA seizes $12 bn cannabis haul and arrests China‑bound businesswoman with 7.5 kg of cocaine

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Nigeria arrested 38‑year‑old businesswoman Iwebema Ogechi Peace at Lagos’s Murtala Muhammed International Airport while she was boarding a Qatar Airways flight to Beijing. A search of her checked luggage revealed four parcels of cocaine concealed in a false bottom, totalling 7.5 kg.

In a parallel operation, NDLEA officers intercepted a 40‑foot container at Apapa Port in Lagos that held 4,959 kg of Canadian “Loud” cannabis, valued at roughly N12.4 billion. The container, which also contained a Ford and a Nissan, had been tracked since it left Toronto in April. The agency also dismantled a syndicate that plants narcotics in passengers’ luggage on interstate bus routes, leading to arrests in Abuja, Anambra and Lagos and the seizure of 467.7 g of methamphetamine, 209.5 kg of Scottish Loud cannabis, 558,900 tramadol pills and other substances.

Separately, NDLEA’s Kano command publicly destroyed 12.2 tonnes of seized drugs, and the federal government plans to eliminate the option of fines for convicted traffickers, replacing them with mandatory 15‑to‑25‑year prison terms.