Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 101-year-old great-grandmother for dealing in illicit drugs and also intercepted cocaine concealed in edible cassava flour popularly known as fufu.
In a rare and startling development, NDLEA operatives on Saturday, August 15, arrested a 101-year-old woman, Esther Ogunmabo, in Ilisan, Ogun state, with retail sachets of skunk, a strain of cannabis weighing 90 grams, which she claims she sells to locals.
The centenarian told operatives that she resorted to the illicit drug trade after her provisions shop was razed by fire, adding that one of her daughters, who resides in Lagos, arranges the supply of the substance to her every four days, which she in turn sold in bits.
The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), has, however, directed that the suspect be granted bail and placed on counselling because of her advanced age, while her daughter has been arrested.
In a related development, NDLEA operatives in Akwa Ibom state acting on credible intelligence, on Friday, 21st August intercepted a wooden boat on the high seas conveying illicit drugs to fishing settlements in the Republic of Cameroon.
Three suspects who were arrested on board the boat, which was heading to Ine Isu, Ine Mbah and Ine Ikot Itie Udung fishing ports in Cameroon, include: Etima Effiong Eekpo, 29, caught with 1.120kg skunk; Otobong Eyoh Etukudoh, 33, who had 42.060kg of skunk in his possession; and 27-year-old Kingsley Effiong John, who was found with 20grams of cocaine cleverly concealed inside a large wrap of edible cassava fufu, alongside 435grams of skunk. A total of 42.622kg of narcotics was recovered from the trio.