NDLEA arrests 65-year-old woman, seizes large drug consignments across Nigeria

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a wanted 65-year-old woman, Fatima Ilori, popularly known as Mama Kerosine, over her alleged involvement in a major illicit drug distribution network in Ibadan, Oyo State.

Ilori was apprehended in an intelligence-led operation after the seizure of 238.4 kilogrammes of skunk, a strain of cannabis, linked to her activities. She was arrested alongside another female suspect, Olusanya Abosede, 35, at the Onireke/Elekuro area of Ibadan on Monday, December 29, 2025.

The arrest was disclosed in a statement issued on Sunday by the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Mr Femi Babafemi. He said the operation formed part of the agency’s intensified crackdown on drug trafficking nationwide.

According to the statement, NDLEA operatives also intercepted consignments of illicit drugs, including ketamine, ecstasy and tramadol pills, concealed in sachets of coffee mix and a book parcel destined for Zambia and the United Kingdom. The seizures were made at a courier company in Lagos on December 24 and 29, 2025.

The agency further revealed that 22 Indian crew members of a merchant vessel, MV Aruna Hulya, were taken into custody after 31.5 kilogrammes of cocaine were discovered in hatch three of the ship at the GDNL terminal, Apapa port, Lagos, on Friday, January 2, 2026. Those detained include the vessel’s master, Sharma Shashi Bhushan, and 21 other crew members.

In Borno State, NDLEA operatives disrupted drug supply routes linked to insurgents with the arrest of two suspects and the seizure of large quantities of illicit substances. A 26-year-old suspect, Isa Mohammed, was arrested along the Maiduguri–Gamboru Ngala road with 9,150 ampoules of tramadol injection, while Musa Samaila, 30, was apprehended at Biu market with 34,000 capsules of tramadol on the same day.

In Lagos, about 400 kilogrammes of skunk were recovered along with a van at the Mobolaji Johnson area on New Year’s Day, while a suspect, Bilya Ibrahim, 39, was arrested at a motor park in Hadejia, Jigawa State, with 260 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 140.8 kilogrammes.

Similarly, in Kwara State, NDLEA officers recovered 238.5 kilogrammes of skunk from a suspect’s residence at the Asadam area of Ilorin, while 32,000 pills of tramadol and diazepam were seized from another suspect, Abubakar Rabiu, 32, at Bode Saadu, Moro Local Government Area.

The Chairman of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), commended officers of the DOGI, Apapa, Oyo, Borno, Lagos, Kwara and Jigawa commands for the arrests and seizures, urging them to intensify efforts to curb drug trafficking across the country.