83-year-old convicted grandma, South African lady arrested with Colos, Meth shipments

An 83-year-old grandmother, Mrs. Uloma Uchechi Sunday, has again been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) with consignments of Methamphetamine and Colorado concealed around her waist, barely a year after she was nabbed, prosecuted and convicted for the same offence.

The octogenarian was arrested on Wednesday, October 7th at her home in Ite-Uzo, Umuaguma, Obingwa LGA, Abia State, with quantities of Methamphetamine and Colorado tied to her waist with a wrapper. Her re-arrest followed credible intelligence indicating that she runs a notorious drug joint that harbours criminal elements who terrorise the community.

A statement from Femi Babafemi, spokesprson of the NDLEA, says Uloma’s first encounter with the law was on 17th May 2025 when she was arrested by NDLEA operatives at her residence in the same village alongside her daughter, Chisom Uchechi, 32, with 50 grams of methamphetamine, 522 grams of skunk, 260 grams of fresh cannabis leaves and 12 grams of tramadol. Both pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment or a fine of N200,000 each. They paid the fine and were released by the court.

‘’Undeterred, the notorious old woman promptly returned to the criminal trade and escalated the scale by setting up a drug joint where she harbours dangerous characters.''

Babafemi mentioned that at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, Rivers state, NDLEA operatives, working in synergy with Customs Service, arrested a South African lady, Gebashe Sithandiwe Jessie, with 30 parcels of Thai Loud, a specie of cannabis, weighing 32.74 kilograms, concealed in two travelling bags.

He said the suspect had travelled from Thailand via Doha aboard Qatar Airways flight QR1431. He mentioned that the suspect confessed to having previously trafficked through other African countries and was expanding her route to Port Harcourt when she was caught.

In another interdiction at the Lagos airport, a consolidated cargo from the United Kingdom was monitored after arriving on 29th September. Six Ghana-Must-Go bags were found to contain 70 parcels of Colorado, a synthetic cannabinoid weighing 75.90kg.

A clearing agent, John Edrah, 54, was the first suspect to be arrested on 30th September. Thereafter, Taofiq Ajibola, 54, an Uber driver, was arrested while collecting one of the bags at a logistics company in Mafoluku area of Oshodi, followed by Adetunji Adebayo and Kazeem Damola Dosunmu, 48, a clothing trader, who came for the remaining five. Ajibola said the drugs were sent by a UK-based associate, Lukman Sa'idu, while Dosunmu said his own consignments came from another UK-based man identified as Yusuf.

Following surveillance, a raid on Iyala Nkun village, Ikom LGA, Cross River state by NDLEA officers on Sunday 4th October led to the arrest of Adama Inuwa, 46, with 181 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 1,100kg and 17.15kg of cannabis seeds.