83-year-old grandma re-arrested with meth, Colorado after conviction

An 83-year-old grandmother, Mrs Uloma Uchechi Sunday, has been re-arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) with consignments of methamphetamine and Colorado, barely a year after she was arrested, prosecuted and convicted for drug-related offences.
The octogenarian was arrested on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, at her residence in Ite-Uzo, Umuaguma, Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State, with quantities of methamphetamine and Colorado concealed around her waist and tied with a wrapper.
Her re-arrest followed credible intelligence indicating that she allegedly operated a notorious drug joint where criminal elements who terrorise the community reportedly gathered.
Uloma’s first encounter with the law was on May 17, 2025, when NDLEA operatives arrested her at her residence in the same village alongside her 32-year-old daughter, Chisom Uchechi.
The operatives recovered 50 grammes of methamphetamine, 522 grammes of skunk, 260 grammes of fresh cannabis leaves and 12 grammes of tramadol from them.
Both women pleaded guilty to the charges and were sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment or a fine of N200,000 each. They opted to pay the fines and were subsequently released by the court.
However, according to the NDLEA, the elderly woman allegedly returned to the illicit drug trade and expanded her activities by establishing a drug joint.
In a related development, NDLEA operatives, working in collaboration with the Nigeria Customs Service, arrested a South African woman, Gebashe Sithandiwe Jessie, at the Port Harcourt International Airport (PHIA), Omagwa, Rivers State, with 30 parcels of Thai Loud, a strain of cannabis, weighing 32.74 kilogrammes.
The suspect had travelled from Thailand through Doha aboard Qatar Airways flight QR1431. She reportedly confessed to having trafficked drugs through other African countries before attempting to expand her operations to Port Harcourt, where she was apprehended.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives at the Import Shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, intercepted a consignment of nine cartons imported from Pakistan aboard a Royal Air Maroc flight.
The shipment was placed under surveillance upon arrival on September 29. A joint examination of the consignment on Tuesday, October 6, uncovered 354,000 tablets of Tapentadol, 250mg, weighing 307.20 kilogrammes.
In another interdiction at the Lagos airport, operatives intercepted a consolidated cargo from the United Kingdom that had arrived on September 29. A search revealed six Ghana-Must-Go bags containing 70 parcels of Colorado, a synthetic cannabinoid, weighing 75.90 kilogrammes.
A clearing agent, John Edrah, 54, was the first suspect arrested in connection with the seizure on September 30.
Subsequently, Taofiq Ajibola, 54, an Uber driver, was arrested while attempting to collect one of the bags at a logistics company in the Mafoluku area of Oshodi. Adetunji Adebayo and Kazeem Damola Dosunmu, 48, a clothing trader, were also arrested after allegedly coming to collect the remaining five bags.
Ajibola reportedly disclosed that the drugs were sent by a UK-based associate, Lukman Sa’idu, while Dosunmu said his consignment came from another UK-based individual identified as Yusuf.
In Cross River State, NDLEA operatives, acting on intelligence, raided Iyala Nkun village in Ikom Local Government Area on Sunday, October 4, and arrested Adama Inuwa, 46.
The operation led to the recovery of 181 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 1,100 kilogrammes and 17.15 kilogrammes of cannabis seeds.
In Edo State, operatives intercepted a black Toyota Camry conveying 1,049 blocks of compressed cannabis weighing 702.83 kilogrammes at Otuo, Owan East Local Government Area, on Monday, October 5.
Three suspects—Monday Orji, 52; Monday Lawal, 40; and Precious Uduegele, 20—were arrested in connection with the seizure.
In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives arrested Ojugo Mercy, 26, at Asoro, off Sakponba Road, Benin City, with 989 grammes of Loud, 13 grammes of Colorado and 83 grammes of methamphetamine.
In Ondo State, a 21-year-old suspect, Happy Endurance, was arrested at her hideout in the Shasha area of Akure on Monday, October 5, following a surveillance operation. The operatives recovered 29 bags of cannabis weighing 290 kilogrammes.
On the same day, another raid on an apartment at Oba-Ile, Akure, led to the arrest of Tunde Adebayo, 42, with 35 bags of cannabis weighing 351 kilogrammes.
In Taraba State, NDLEA operatives, supported by soldiers, arrested Abdulrasheed Mohamed, 31, and Abubakar Saidu, 37, at Chanchanji village in Wukari Local Government Area on Friday, October 9.
The suspects were allegedly found with 166,200 tablets of Tramadol, 225mg, weighing 107 kilogrammes.
Similarly, a stop-and-search operation conducted by NDLEA operatives along the Kano-Maiduguri Road in Kano State on Friday, October 9, led to the arrest of Yahaya Musa, 32, with 24,990 capsules of tramadol, 50,000 tablets of diazepam and 22,000 tablets of Exol-5.
In Kaduna State, NDLEA operatives on patrol along the Zaria-Kaduna Expressway arrested Mohammed Musa, 29, with 31 jumbo bags of skunk and 775 blocks of the same substance, with a combined weight of 1,027 kilogrammes.
In Lagos, a suspect, Musbau Balogun Adekunle, was arrested in the Orile area on Tuesday, October 6, with 32.51 kilogrammes of skunk and 52.65 kilogrammes of cannabis seeds, bringing the total seizure to 85.16 kilogrammes.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives recovered assorted firearms and ammunition during a raid on the residence of a 45-year-old suspect, Christian Chukwudi Uju, at Rukuba Road, Jos, Plateau State, on Thursday, October 8.
The items recovered included 47 grammes of methamphetamine, two pump-action rifles, one locally made gun, 199 live cartridges, five rounds of 7.62mm ammunition and one round of 9mm ammunition.
Beyond its enforcement operations, the agency sustained its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaign across the country, reaching schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities during the week under review.
The campaign featured enlightenment lectures for students and staff of Progressive Grammar School, Tede, Oyo State; Ehugbo Technical College, Afikpo, Ebonyi State; Baptist High School, Lambata, Niger State; Madarasatul Tarbiyatul Islamiya, Galangalan Tudun Wada, Kano State; Ipara Senior and Junior Community Secondary School, Badagry, Lagos State; and Manbahu Ridwanullah Nursery and Primary School, Olomore, Abeokuta, Ogun State, among others.
Commending officers and men of the Lagos, MMIA, PHIA, Taraba, Kano, Kaduna, Edo, Cross River, Ondo and Plateau Commands for their professionalism and intelligence-driven operations, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), urged personnel across the country to sustain the momentum.
Marwa also charged them to maintain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control, combining effective enforcement with public enlightenment and preventive measures.