Both women reportedly pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment or an option of a N200,000 fine each. They paid the fines and were released.
However, the agency alleged that Uloma returned to the illicit drug trade after her release and subsequently established a drug joint.
At the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, NDLEA operatives, working with officers of the Nigeria Customs Service, arrested a South African woman, Gebashe Sithandiwe Jessie, with 30 parcels of Thai Loud weighing 32.74kg.
The cannabis was allegedly concealed in two travelling bags.
The suspect reportedly arrived from Thailand through Doha aboard a Qatar Airways flight, QR1431.
According to the statement, she confessed to previously trafficking drugs through other African countries and said she was expanding her routes to Port Harcourt when she was arrested.
At the Import Shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos State, operatives intercepted nine cartons of pharmaceutical products shipped from Pakistan aboard a Royal Air Maroc flight.
The consignment was placed under surveillance after arriving on September 29. A joint examination conducted on Tuesday, October 6, uncovered 354,000 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg weighing 307.20kg.
In a separate operation at the Lagos airport, the agency intercepted a consolidated cargo from the United Kingdom containing 70 parcels of Colorado weighing 75.90kg.
The drugs were concealed in six Ghana-Must-Go bags that arrived on September 29.
A clearing agent, John Edrah, 54, was arrested on September 30, while an Uber driver, Taofiq Ajibola, 54, was apprehended while attempting to collect one of the bags at a logistics company in Mafoluku, Oshodi.
Two other suspects, Adetunji Adebayo and Kazeem Damola Dosunmu, 48, a clothing trader, were subsequently arrested while allegedly collecting the remaining five bags.
Ajibola reportedly told investigators that the drugs were sent by an associate based in the United Kingdom, identified as Lukman Sa’idu, while Dosunmu said his consignment came from another UK-based individual identified as Yusuf.
In Cross River State, NDLEA operatives arrested 46-year-old Adama Inuwa during a raid on Iyala Nkun village, Ikom Local Government Area, on Sunday, October 4.
The operation led to the recovery of 181 bags of cannabis weighing 1,100kg and 17.15kg of cannabis seeds.
In Edo State, operatives intercepted a black Toyota Camry conveying 1,049 blocks of compressed cannabis weighing 702.83kg at Otuo, Owan East Local Government Area, on Monday, October 5.
Three suspects, identified as Monday Orji, 52; Monday Lawal, 40; and Precious Uduegele, 20, were arrested in connection with the seizure.
In another operation in the state, 26-year-old Ojugo Mercy was arrested at Asoro, off Sakponba Road, Benin City, with 989 grammes of Loud, 13 grammes of Colorado and 83 grammes of methamphetamine.
In Ondo State, a 21-year-old suspect, Happy Endurance, was arrested at her hideout in the Shasha area of Akure on Monday, October 5, following surveillance by NDLEA operatives.
The officers recovered 29 bags of cannabis weighing 290kg from her.
Another raid on an apartment in Oba-Ile, Akure, the same day led to the arrest of 42-year-old Tunde Adebayo, with 35 bags of cannabis weighing 351kg.
In Taraba State, NDLEA operatives, supported by soldiers, arrested Abdulrasheed Mohamed, 31, and Abubakar Saidu, 37, at Chanchanji village, Wukari Local Government Area, on Friday, October 9.
The suspects were allegedly found with 166,200 tablets of Tramadol 225mg weighing 107kg.
Similarly, a stop-and-search operation along the Kano-Maiduguri Road in Kano State on October 9 led to the arrest of 32-year-old Yahaya Musa.
The agency said 24,990 capsules of tramadol, 50,000 tablets of diazepam and 22,000 tablets of Exol-5 were recovered from him.
In Kaduna State, operatives patrolling the Zaria-Kaduna Expressway arrested 29-year-old Mohammed Musa with 31 jumbo bags of skunk and 775 blocks of the same substance, weighing 1,027kg combined.
At Orile, Lagos State, a suspect, Musbau Balogun Adekunle, was arrested on Tuesday, October 6, with 32.51kg of skunk and 52.65kg of cannabis seeds, bringing the total seizure to 85.16kg.
In Plateau State, NDLEA operatives raided the residence of 45-year-old Christian Chukwudi Uju at Rukuba Road, Jos, on Thursday, October 8.
The operation led to the recovery of 47 grammes of methamphetamine, two pump-action rifles, one locally made gun, 199 live cartridges, five rounds of 7.62mm ammunition and one round of 9mm ammunition.
The agency also continued its War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation campaign across schools, religious centres, workplaces and communities during the week under review.
The activities included enlightenment lectures at Progressive Grammar School, Tede, Oyo State; Ehugbo Technical College, Afikpo, Ebonyi State; Baptist High School, Lambata, Niger State; Madarasatul Tarbiyatul Islamiya, Galangalan Tudun Wada, Kano State; Ipara Senior and Junior Community Secondary School, Badagry, Lagos State; and Manbahu Ridwanullah Nursery and Primary School, Olomore, Abeokuta, Ogun State, among others.
Commending officers and men of the Lagos, Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Port Harcourt International Airport, Taraba, Kano, Kaduna, Edo, Cross River, Ondo and Plateau commands for the operations, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), urged them to sustain their efforts.
Marwa called on officers across the country to maintain what he described as a balanced approach to the agency’s drug control activities.
