NDLEA ARRESTS UGANDAN WOMAN WITH 1.15KG COCAINE AT LAGOS AIRPORT
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By Aishat Momoh. O.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a 34-year-old Ugandan woman, Farida Nansubuga, for allegedly attempting to smuggle 1.15 kilogrammes of cocaine from Nigeria to Uganda.
Nansubuga was arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, on Tuesday, November 3, while preparing to board a flight to Uganda.
The agency said 87 wraps of cocaine were recovered from her pelvic region, where they had been strapped beneath two layers of underwear.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the suspect arrived in Nigeria on October 29 with members of her church for a prayer session at the Synagogue Church of All Nations in the Ikotun-Egbe area of Lagos.
Babafemi said the other members of her delegation had returned to Uganda after the prayer session, but Nansubuga remained in Nigeria to allegedly collect the cocaine on behalf of a friend identified as Joy, who lives in Uganda.
He said she was intercepted during a joint passenger screening exercise involving NDLEA operatives and aviation security personnel at Terminal 2 of the airport.
“She came to Nigeria with members of her church for spiritual renewal at a prayer session in Lagos. But when it was time to go home, 34-year-old Ugandan, Ms Farida Nansubuga, chose a different path. While the rest of her delegation flew back to Uganda, she stayed behind, not to pray some more, but to pick up a consignment of cocaine, which she hid in her private part in a bid to smuggle it into her country.
“Her plan, however, came crashing down at the MMIA, Ikeja, Lagos, on Tuesday, 3rd November 2026, when operatives of the NDLEA intercepted her at the screening point of Terminal 2 during a joint passenger screening exercise with aviation security personnel. She was due to board a Ugandan airline flight to her home country,” the statement partly read.
Babafemi said preliminary investigations reportedly revealed that a contact in Nigeria arranged a vehicle to take her to a hotel on the morning of her scheduled departure, where an unidentified man handed her the drugs.
The suspect allegedly told investigators that she was instructed to conceal the cocaine beneath her clothing to evade airport security screening.
Babafemi quoted her as saying that she had arrived in Nigeria on October 29 with members of her church for a prayer session at the Synagogue Church of All Nations in Ikotun-Egbe.
She reportedly claimed that after the prayer session, the other members of her delegation returned to Uganda while she stayed behind to collect the illicit consignment on behalf of Joy.
The suspect also reportedly said that although no definite payment had been agreed upon, she expected to receive at least $1,000 after successfully delivering the drugs in Uganda.
The NDLEA Chairman, Brig-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), described the arrest as a reminder of how drug cartels exploit religious activities and travel to recruit couriers.
Marwa, while commending the officers involved in the arrest, urged personnel across the agency’s commands to sustain efforts to tackle drug trafficking and abuse.
“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 for their deadly trade. I urge officers across all commands to sustain the tempo of their supply and demand reduction efforts,” he said.
The arrest was among several drug seizures and arrests recorded by the agency across the country.
In another operation at the Lagos airport, operatives intercepted 750,000 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg, weighing 526 kilogrammes and valued at N900m.
The consignment, which arrived from India aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight, was allegedly declared as Paracetamol tablets.
Babafemi said the shipment comprised 11 cartons packed in two wooden structures and arrived at the airport’s import shed on Tuesday, November 3, before it was uncovered on Friday, November 6.
“In another interception at the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives on Friday, 6th November uncovered 750,000 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg, weighing 526 kilograms with a street value of N900 million, in a consignment from India declared as Paracetamol Tablets 500mg,” he said.
He further disclosed that the agency intercepted 32 parcels of Loud weighing 16.15 kilogrammes, concealed in two wooden sofas in a cargo shipment from Houston, United States.
In another operation, NDLEA operatives intercepted 600 tablets of Tramadol 225mg concealed in female headwear in a shipment destined for the United Kingdom.
The agency also recovered 46 blocks of cannabis weighing 22.2 kilogrammes from two cartons being shipped to the UK.
The latest seizures followed an earlier interception of illicit drugs concealed in imported furniture, including sofas, and women’s headgear.
Footage released by the agency showed officers unpacking large cardboard crates containing sofas and recovering sealed packages of suspected narcotics hidden inside the furniture’s foam and padding.
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