NDLEA Arrests Widow Using Fake Pregnancy to Traffic Cocaine, Intercepts Drugs Nationwide

NDLEA Arrests Widow Using Fake Pregnancy to Traffic Cocaine, Intercepts Drugs Nationwide

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 50-year-old widow and fashion designer, Mrs. Ifeoma Henrietta Ezewuike, for attempting to traffic 1.3 kilograms of cocaine using a fake pregnancy belly as disguise.

Ezewuike, a mother of one and proprietress of Golden Star Creation fashion house in Okota, Lagos, was apprehended on Friday, August 22, 2025, at a bus terminal in Jibowu, Yaba, while trying to deliver the drugs to customers in Abuja. A follow-up search at her residence led to the recovery of 200 grams of a cocaine-cutting agent. She confessed to inheriting the trade from her late husband, who died two years ago.

Major Seizures Across States
In Lagos, NDLEA officers intercepted 90 parcels of “Loud,” a high-grade strain of cannabis weighing 48.6kg, concealed in kitchen sink cartons imported from the United States. The interception was made on Tuesday, August 19, at a courier company by operatives of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation.

In Adamawa, operatives raided the home of notorious dealer Idris Garba, who escaped by scaling a fence. However, his associate, 55-year-old Boniface Nnaji, was arrested. A black Toyota Tundra and a Toyota Yaris used to convey 354,480 tramadol pills were recovered from the premises.

In Kogi, 5,000 capsules of tramadol, 400 ampoules of pentazocine, and 200 diazepam ampoules were seized from Neche Okonkwo, who ferried the drugs across the River Niger from Onitsha to Lokoja.

In Kano, NDLEA arrested Buhari Ibrahim, 25, and Mansur Musa, 24, with 5,850 pregabalin capsules, while 452,070 opioid pills were recovered from the home of a suspect, Rabilu Mukhtar, who is currently at large. Another suspect, Buhari Idris, 35, was caught with 140 litres of codeine syrup, and 7,000 tramadol capsules were seized from Adamu Yusuf, 29.

In Kwara, a combined 2,289.49kg of cannabis was seized in three operations at Ajase-Ipo. Arrests included Kabiru Abdullahi, 47-year-old Paul Olaniran, and two others, Abubakar Zaki and Yau Babangida. Similarly, in Ekiti, Awe Sunday, 50, and Ayodele Adedayo, 54, were arrested with 96kg of cannabis.

In Taraba, operatives destroyed 7,500kg of cannabis on three hectares of farmland in Bali LGA, while 901kg was recovered from a warehouse in Uzebba, Edo State, where a female suspect, Fodo Stella Sunday, 54, was arrested. Another 14,233kg plantation was destroyed in Owan West LGA, Edo.

In Delta State, 25,500kg of cannabis farms were destroyed in Ndokwa West, while in Ondo, 25,025kg was destroyed on three farms in Uso area.

Other Arrests
Two dispatch riders, Garba Sule, 29, and Isaac Augustine, 35, were arrested in Abuja while distributing illicit drugs. Sule was caught with pentazocine injections, while Augustine was nabbed with cannabis packaged for delivery.

NDLEA Boss Commends Operatives
NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended officers in Lagos, Kano, Kogi, Kwara, Taraba, Delta, Adamawa, Ondo, Ekiti, Edo, and the FCT for their efforts. He urged them to sustain the agency’s balanced approach of drug supply reduction and demand reduction through its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaigns.