By Sabiu Abdullahi
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 34-year-old Ugandan national, Farida Nansubuga, over an alleged attempt to smuggle 1.15 kilogrammes of cocaine from Nigeria to Uganda.
Nansubuga was intercepted on Tuesday, November 3, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, while preparing to board a flight to her home country.
The agency said 87 wraps of cocaine were discovered concealed around her pelvic region beneath 2 layers of underwear.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the suspect arrived in Nigeria on October 29 with members of her church for a prayer programme at the Synagogue Church of All Nations in the Ikotun-Egbe area of Lagos.
While the other members of her delegation returned to Uganda after the programme, Nansubuga allegedly remained behind to collect a drug consignment for a friend identified as Joy, who lives in Uganda.
Babafemi said she was arrested during a joint passenger screening operation involving NDLEA operatives and aviation security personnel at Terminal 2 of the airport.
“She came to Nigeria with members of her church for spiritual renewal at a prayer session in Lagos. But when it was time to go home, 34-year-old Ugandan, Ms Farida Nansubuga, chose a different path.
“While the rest of her delegation flew back to Uganda, she stayed behind, not to pray some more, but to pick up a consignment of cocaine, which she hid in her private part in a bid to smuggle it into her country.
“Her plan, however, came crashing down at the MMIA, Ikeja, Lagos, on Tuesday, 3rd November 2026, when operatives of the NDLEA intercepted her at the screening point of Terminal 2 during a joint passenger screening exercise with aviation security personnel. She was due to board a Ugandan airline flight to her home country,” the statement partly read.
The agency said preliminary investigations indicated that a contact in Nigeria arranged transportation for the suspect to a hotel on the day of her departure, where an unidentified man allegedly handed over the drugs to her.
Nansubuga reportedly told investigators that she was instructed to hide the cocaine beneath her clothes to avoid detection at the airport.
Babafemi further quoted her as saying that she had travelled to Nigeria with her church members but stayed behind after their departure to collect the consignment for her Ugandan contact.
“During a preliminary interview, the suspect said she arrived in Nigeria on 29th October 2026 with members of her church for a prayer session at The Synagogue Church of All Nations, Ikotun-Egbe area of Lagos.
“She claimed that after the prayer session, the other members of her delegation returned to Uganda while she stayed back to collect the illicit consignment on behalf of a friend, simply identified as Joy, who resides in Uganda.”
The suspect reportedly said she expected to receive at least $1,000 for delivering the drugs, although no specific payment arrangement had been finalised.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), described the arrest as evidence of the tactics employed by drug trafficking networks to recruit couriers through religious and other forms of travel.
“The case of the Ugandan woman is a sad reminder that drug cartels will stop at nothing, including exploiting faith and religious travel, to recruit couriers for their deadly trade. I urge officers across all commands to sustain the tempo of their supply and demand reduction efforts,” he said.
Marwa also commended the officers involved in the operation and urged personnel across the agency’s commands to maintain their efforts against drug trafficking.
In a separate operation at the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives intercepted 750,000 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg, weighing 526 kilogrammes and estimated to be worth ₦900 million.
The consignment, which arrived from Ahmedabad, India, aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight, was allegedly declared as Paracetamol 500mg tablets.
“In another interception at the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives on Friday, 6th November, uncovered 750,000 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg, weighing 526 kilograms with a street value of N900 million, in a consignment from India declared as Paracetamol Tablets 500mg.
“The consignment, made up of eleven cartons packed in two wooden structures, arrived at the import shed of the airport on Tuesday, 3rd November, aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Ahmedabad, India,” he said.
The agency also intercepted 32 parcels of a cannabis strain known as Loud, weighing 16.15 kilogrammes, concealed inside 2 wooden sofas in a cargo shipment from Houston, United States.
In another seizure, officers recovered 600 tablets of Tramadol 225mg hidden in female headwear in a shipment destined for the United Kingdom. They also intercepted 46 blocks of cannabis weighing 22.2 kilogrammes in 2 cartons being sent to the same country.
