The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 34-year-old South African woman with 36.65kg of cocaine at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, and a 46-year-old Lagos car dealer allegedly linked to the operation.
The agency also arrested a 62-year-old Nigerian-American woman with 9.45kg of high-grade cannabis, popularly known as loud, after she arrived in Nigeria from the United States.
The NDLEA disclosed the arrests in a statement issued on Sunday, October 25, 2026, by its Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi.
According to the statement, the South African suspect, identified as Qhina Beauty, was arrested on October 7 while preparing to board a Qatar Airways flight to South Africa through Doha.
A search of her two travelling bags uncovered 30 blocks of cocaine weighing 36.65kg. The agency said the drugs were wrapped in cellophane tape, concealed with dried pepper and packed into seven parcels.
The NDLEA said Beauty told investigators she arrived in Nigeria on September 30 specifically to collect the consignment.
She allegedly disclosed that another South African woman recruited her and promised to pay her 20,000 rand after a successful delivery.
The agency said Beauty also identified two other alleged members of the trafficking network, including a person based in the United States and a Lagos-based car dealer.
Further investigations led to the arrest of the dealer, Uchenna Victor Umunnakwe, 46, on October 14 at Apple Junction, Ago Palace Way, Lagos, following surveillance at his residence in Shasha.
According to the NDLEA, Umunnakwe admitted receiving Beauty at the airport and arranging accommodation for her at Santiago Hotel in Amuwo-Odofin. He allegedly moved her later to Cynarisso Hotel near the airport ahead of her planned departure.
The agency said the investigation into the alleged trafficking network was ongoing.
In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives arrested Anetor Gloria Ubong, 62, a Nigerian-American realtor based in Richmond, Texas, on October 21 after she arrived at the Lagos airport on a United Airlines flight from Houston.
A search of her two checked-in boxes led to the discovery of 18 parcels of loud weighing 9.45kg, concealed with gift-wrapping paper inside one of the boxes.
The agency said Ubong holds both Nigerian and United States passports.
According to the NDLEA, she told investigators that her daughter and her daughter’s future brother-in-law had delivered the box to her home in the United States for onward delivery in Nigeria to her daughter’s fiancé, identified as Jibola.
The agency has not established publicly, in the information released so far, whether the alleged recipients or other persons named in the cases have been arrested.
The seizures highlight the use of international air travel to move illicit drugs into and through Nigeria, with the NDLEA continuing investigations into suspected trafficking networks and the people allegedly involved.
The allegations against the suspects have not been established in court.
