For long now, a good number of women have demonstrated the saying that, “what a man can do, woman can do better.”
This may not be true in many spheres, but it is slowly becoming the norm in the ongoing drug trafficking business. As each year goes by, many ladies are diving into the criminal world of trafficking illicit drugs.
The competition has become stiff, with grandmothers challenging younger women in the trade. Below is the story of women in narcotic business, who were arrested in 2013 by agents of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
Ladies hide drugs in underwear, hair wigs
Three ladies were arrested by NDLEA over smuggling of 4.500kg of narcotics, which they hid in under wears and hair wigs. The women were arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
Two of the suspects who were to board an Egypt airline flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, through Cairo were caught with 3.6kg of methamphetamines neatly hidden in customised under wears and hair wigs. Another female suspect who claimed to be three months pregnant, was found to have ingested 900 grammes of a substance, unmindful of the foetus, that tested positive for cocaine.
NDLEA Commander at the Abuja Airport, Mr. Hamisu Lawan, gave the names of the suspects as Anene Blessing Iruoma, 26, Obiakor Maryann Okwudili, 34 and Mbechi Obiageli Susan, 38. According to Hamisu: “Iruoma and Okwudili concealed 1.7kg and 1.90kg of methamphetamine in under wears and hair wigs, while Susan ingested 900 grammes of cocaine.
The drugs were detected during routine screening of passengers.” Iruoma was found to be wearing a customised brassier, pants and hair wig all stuffed with substances which tested positive for methamphetamine weighing 1.7kg. Okwudili was apprehended on the same flight with Iruoma. She too concealed 1.90kg of methamphetamine in her under wears. Susan ingested 900 grammes of cocaine and was arrested on her way from Sao-Paulo, Brazil with the aid of scanning machines. Susan later excreted 51 pellets of cocaine weighing 900 grammes.
Grandmother held for concealing cocaine in herbal syrup
Sixty-five-year-old Hassan Fatimat Abike also known as Chika Okoye was supposed to smuggle the 1.740kg of cocaine, concealed in herbal syrup, to London, but mother luck was not on her side that day. It was not her fist time of going to London and the drug was cleverly packed to avoid detection.
It was packed in balloons and inserted in ten Anene blessing plastic containers of herbal syrup. The suspect was to board a British Airways flight when officers of the NDLEA arrested her at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA). Airport Commander, Mr. Hamza Umar, said that the grandmother has two international passports bearing Hassan Fatimat Abike.
Her passport numbers are A03348648 and A3771781A. Umar added: “She was caught during the screening of British Airways passengers to London. The cocaine found in her possession was packed in balloons and prepared into the shape of the plastic bottles. It was also wrapped in black polythene inside 10 plastic bottles of local herbal mixtures. Each bottle was neatly sealed to avoid suspicion.” Preliminary investigation revealed that the woman speaks Ibo and Yoruba fluently.
Her father is a native of Abeokuta while her mother hails from Owerri, Imo State. She has six children and many grandchildren. She currently lives alone in Owerri and sells clothes to earn a living. The drug found in her bag tested positive for cocaine and weighed 1.740kg.
The grandmother said: “I live at Owerri alone because my children are grown up and now have their families. I sell clothes to take care of myself. I met an old friend two weeks ago and during our discussion, I told him I will soon be traveling to London. He asked me to deliver some herbal medicine to his sick relative in London. I was only trying to assist an old friend.
I blame myself for everything because I should have turned down his request.”
Woman inserts 66 wraps of narcotics in private part
Mande Fatima Bala, 48, was described last year by narcotic agents, as setting a new record in narcotic smuggling in the country. She inserted 66 wraps of substances that tested positive for methamphetamine, weighing one kilogramme in her private parts as she attempted to board a Kenyan Airways flight to Nairobi.
According to the agents, no suspect had ever inserted such a large quantity of drugs in their private part since the establishment of NDLEA in 1989. The suspect, who is a graduate of accountancy, was apprehended at the MMIA. The quantity of the drugs was so much that it affected her gait, thus attracting attention of NDLEA official.
Unfortunately, nemesis caught up with her when one of the wraps fell on the floor at the screening area as she bent down to pick up her belongings. Upon interrogation and examination, she confessed to the crime, stating that she was asked to swallow the drug, but was scared it could kill her. Preliminary investigation revealed that she lived in Australia for about two years before she was deported in 2010. Umar described the case as shocking, adding: “This is incredible! She was desperate but I’m happy that she was promptly detected.
No suspect has ever inserted such a large quantity of drugs in the country. Usually, cases of insertion are not more than 300 grammes. It is amazing!” Bala, who is a widow and mother of three, said it was how to pay school fees that lured her into the criminal act.
“It was N45,000 school fees for my child and my landlord who is threatening to eject me by July for not paying my rent that pushed me into drug business. I was instructed to swallow the drugs but I was scared because I had never seen drugs in my life.
I used to sell water and drinks after my husband died in an auto accident in 2007. Few years after, I lost everything and could never practiced.”
She continued: “I was given the drugs in a hotel. I was afraid of death because I have heard of people dying because of drug ingestion. I decided to insert the wraps on my body. It was difficult because I could not walk normally but I had to try my best to avoid suspicion. I have nobody to take care of my children.”
Chairman of the NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade said: “Apart from the quantity of drugs caught with her, her route is also a new development in drug trafficking. Drug barons now adopt a relay approach to drug trafficking. They wanted to use her to take the drug to another African country before using an indigene of that country to take the drug to other continent where the profit is higher. We are not oblivious of their moves and we are prepared to nip them in the bud.”
Housewife caught smuggling drugs to Spain
A Nigerian woman, married to a German was also apprehended for attempting to smuggle 14.400kg of cannabis into a Turkish airline flight heading to Spain. The suspect, Fetz Joyce, 32, was found with drugs by operatives of NDLEA at the MMIA.
Umar said: “The parcels of compressed cannabis, weighing 14.400kg were found in her luggage at the baggage checking desk.” Joyce said that she was paying the price of being nice to friends.
“I was given the drug by a relative of my friend who resides in Spain. I was only being nice. When they opened and confirmed that it was marijuana, I told the officers that I had no objection because I was only helping my friend. If I had known that I would be arrested, I would have declined taking the luggage for her. She was to collect the bag from me in Spain while I take another flight to Germany.”
Grandma conceals drugs in bag handles A 46-year-old woman who imports female shoes and handbags to Nigeria was arrested by the NDLEA for trying to smuggle 1.800kg heroin. The suspect was arrested during the screening of passengers on an Iberia flight to Spain on December 31, 2011.
The woman, who was travelling with her two-year-old grandson to San Sebastian, Spain allegedly concealed 149 wraps of heroin in the metal handles of her three bags, containing foodstuff and personal effects. The suspect, Mrs. Louis Chinel Uchendu, during interrogation, said that her problem began in 2001 when her husband was killed during a riot in Kano. Her words: “Since my husband was killed in Kano, my life has been in shambles. First, I had to relocate to my village with my daughter and two sons.
Later I began to sell female bags and shoes until I travelled to San Sebastian, Spain in 2005. I was doing fine in business, but the medical crisis in my family brought me to this condition. I was paralised for two years and when I recovered, my son developed kidney problem. I also lost my daughter, the mother of my grandson that I was travelling with at the time I was arrested.” Uchendu said that it was in the process of looking for sponsor to pay for her son’s surgery that she was recruited to smuggle drugs.
“I met a Nigerian in Spain for financial assistance for my son’s medical problem. He told me to bring drugs from Nigeria, that he would give me 2,000 Euros. I accepted the offer because of my predicament. My son needs kidney surgery.
I know that there is no justification for my action, but the health condition of my son forced me into this mess. I tried all I could to raise money, but this is how I ended up.” NDLEA spokesman, Mitchel Ofoyeju said: “In 2013, 8,843 persons were investigated in connection with drug trafficking. They include 8,324 males and 519 females. Illicit drugs seized weighed 339,968kg.
The breakdown is as follows; cannabis 205,373kg, psychotropic substances 133,920kg, methamphetamine 340.8kg and cocaine 290.2kg. Others are heroin 24.53kg, amphetamine 19.297 and ephedrine 0.28 grammes. “However, in 2012, a total of 8,052 persons comprising of 7,510 males and 542 females were investigated. Drugs weighing 233,699.875kg were also seized from traffickers.
The seized drugs include 228,794.13kg of cannabis, 3,905.447kg of psychotropic substances, 461.15kg of ephedrine, 211.325kg of heroin, 176.55kg of methamphetamine, 131.888kg of cocaine and 19.385kg of amphetamine.” The analysis from the tables of arrest and drug seizure shows an increase of 791 arrested persons over that of 2012. While male arrest increased by 814, females reduced by 23. Seized drugs increased by 106,268.125kg over that of 2012.
While cocaine and methamphetamine went up by 158.312kg and 164.25kg respectively; cannabis reduced by 23,421.13kg. It is worthy of note that the rise in cocaine seizure is due to the single seizure of 163.5kg made in 2013. The Agency at the Apapa Port command, Lagos recorded a significant seizure of 129,901kg of Toluene, a precursor chemical used for methamphetamine.
This may not be true in many spheres, but it is slowly becoming the norm in the ongoing drug trafficking business. As each year goes by, many ladies are diving into the criminal world of trafficking illicit drugs.
The competition has become stiff, with grandmothers challenging younger women in the trade. Below is the story of women in narcotic business, who were arrested in 2013 by agents of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
Ladies hide drugs in underwear, hair wigs
Three ladies were arrested by NDLEA over smuggling of 4.500kg of narcotics, which they hid in under wears and hair wigs. The women were arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
Two of the suspects who were to board an Egypt airline flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, through Cairo were caught with 3.6kg of methamphetamines neatly hidden in customised under wears and hair wigs. Another female suspect who claimed to be three months pregnant, was found to have ingested 900 grammes of a substance, unmindful of the foetus, that tested positive for cocaine.
NDLEA Commander at the Abuja Airport, Mr. Hamisu Lawan, gave the names of the suspects as Anene Blessing Iruoma, 26, Obiakor Maryann Okwudili, 34 and Mbechi Obiageli Susan, 38. According to Hamisu: “Iruoma and Okwudili concealed 1.7kg and 1.90kg of methamphetamine in under wears and hair wigs, while Susan ingested 900 grammes of cocaine.
The drugs were detected during routine screening of passengers.” Iruoma was found to be wearing a customised brassier, pants and hair wig all stuffed with substances which tested positive for methamphetamine weighing 1.7kg. Okwudili was apprehended on the same flight with Iruoma. She too concealed 1.90kg of methamphetamine in her under wears. Susan ingested 900 grammes of cocaine and was arrested on her way from Sao-Paulo, Brazil with the aid of scanning machines. Susan later excreted 51 pellets of cocaine weighing 900 grammes.
Grandmother held for concealing cocaine in herbal syrup
Sixty-five-year-old Hassan Fatimat Abike also known as Chika Okoye was supposed to smuggle the 1.740kg of cocaine, concealed in herbal syrup, to London, but mother luck was not on her side that day. It was not her fist time of going to London and the drug was cleverly packed to avoid detection.
It was packed in balloons and inserted in ten Anene blessing plastic containers of herbal syrup. The suspect was to board a British Airways flight when officers of the NDLEA arrested her at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA). Airport Commander, Mr. Hamza Umar, said that the grandmother has two international passports bearing Hassan Fatimat Abike.
Her passport numbers are A03348648 and A3771781A. Umar added: “She was caught during the screening of British Airways passengers to London. The cocaine found in her possession was packed in balloons and prepared into the shape of the plastic bottles. It was also wrapped in black polythene inside 10 plastic bottles of local herbal mixtures. Each bottle was neatly sealed to avoid suspicion.” Preliminary investigation revealed that the woman speaks Ibo and Yoruba fluently.
Her father is a native of Abeokuta while her mother hails from Owerri, Imo State. She has six children and many grandchildren. She currently lives alone in Owerri and sells clothes to earn a living. The drug found in her bag tested positive for cocaine and weighed 1.740kg.
The grandmother said: “I live at Owerri alone because my children are grown up and now have their families. I sell clothes to take care of myself. I met an old friend two weeks ago and during our discussion, I told him I will soon be traveling to London. He asked me to deliver some herbal medicine to his sick relative in London. I was only trying to assist an old friend.
I blame myself for everything because I should have turned down his request.”
Woman inserts 66 wraps of narcotics in private part
Mande Fatima Bala, 48, was described last year by narcotic agents, as setting a new record in narcotic smuggling in the country. She inserted 66 wraps of substances that tested positive for methamphetamine, weighing one kilogramme in her private parts as she attempted to board a Kenyan Airways flight to Nairobi.
According to the agents, no suspect had ever inserted such a large quantity of drugs in their private part since the establishment of NDLEA in 1989. The suspect, who is a graduate of accountancy, was apprehended at the MMIA. The quantity of the drugs was so much that it affected her gait, thus attracting attention of NDLEA official.
Unfortunately, nemesis caught up with her when one of the wraps fell on the floor at the screening area as she bent down to pick up her belongings. Upon interrogation and examination, she confessed to the crime, stating that she was asked to swallow the drug, but was scared it could kill her. Preliminary investigation revealed that she lived in Australia for about two years before she was deported in 2010. Umar described the case as shocking, adding: “This is incredible! She was desperate but I’m happy that she was promptly detected.
No suspect has ever inserted such a large quantity of drugs in the country. Usually, cases of insertion are not more than 300 grammes. It is amazing!” Bala, who is a widow and mother of three, said it was how to pay school fees that lured her into the criminal act.
“It was N45,000 school fees for my child and my landlord who is threatening to eject me by July for not paying my rent that pushed me into drug business. I was instructed to swallow the drugs but I was scared because I had never seen drugs in my life.
I used to sell water and drinks after my husband died in an auto accident in 2007. Few years after, I lost everything and could never practiced.”
She continued: “I was given the drugs in a hotel. I was afraid of death because I have heard of people dying because of drug ingestion. I decided to insert the wraps on my body. It was difficult because I could not walk normally but I had to try my best to avoid suspicion. I have nobody to take care of my children.”
Chairman of the NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade said: “Apart from the quantity of drugs caught with her, her route is also a new development in drug trafficking. Drug barons now adopt a relay approach to drug trafficking. They wanted to use her to take the drug to another African country before using an indigene of that country to take the drug to other continent where the profit is higher. We are not oblivious of their moves and we are prepared to nip them in the bud.”
Housewife caught smuggling drugs to Spain
A Nigerian woman, married to a German was also apprehended for attempting to smuggle 14.400kg of cannabis into a Turkish airline flight heading to Spain. The suspect, Fetz Joyce, 32, was found with drugs by operatives of NDLEA at the MMIA.
Umar said: “The parcels of compressed cannabis, weighing 14.400kg were found in her luggage at the baggage checking desk.” Joyce said that she was paying the price of being nice to friends.
“I was given the drug by a relative of my friend who resides in Spain. I was only being nice. When they opened and confirmed that it was marijuana, I told the officers that I had no objection because I was only helping my friend. If I had known that I would be arrested, I would have declined taking the luggage for her. She was to collect the bag from me in Spain while I take another flight to Germany.”
Grandma conceals drugs in bag handles A 46-year-old woman who imports female shoes and handbags to Nigeria was arrested by the NDLEA for trying to smuggle 1.800kg heroin. The suspect was arrested during the screening of passengers on an Iberia flight to Spain on December 31, 2011.
The woman, who was travelling with her two-year-old grandson to San Sebastian, Spain allegedly concealed 149 wraps of heroin in the metal handles of her three bags, containing foodstuff and personal effects. The suspect, Mrs. Louis Chinel Uchendu, during interrogation, said that her problem began in 2001 when her husband was killed during a riot in Kano. Her words: “Since my husband was killed in Kano, my life has been in shambles. First, I had to relocate to my village with my daughter and two sons.
Later I began to sell female bags and shoes until I travelled to San Sebastian, Spain in 2005. I was doing fine in business, but the medical crisis in my family brought me to this condition. I was paralised for two years and when I recovered, my son developed kidney problem. I also lost my daughter, the mother of my grandson that I was travelling with at the time I was arrested.” Uchendu said that it was in the process of looking for sponsor to pay for her son’s surgery that she was recruited to smuggle drugs.
“I met a Nigerian in Spain for financial assistance for my son’s medical problem. He told me to bring drugs from Nigeria, that he would give me 2,000 Euros. I accepted the offer because of my predicament. My son needs kidney surgery.
I know that there is no justification for my action, but the health condition of my son forced me into this mess. I tried all I could to raise money, but this is how I ended up.” NDLEA spokesman, Mitchel Ofoyeju said: “In 2013, 8,843 persons were investigated in connection with drug trafficking. They include 8,324 males and 519 females. Illicit drugs seized weighed 339,968kg.
The breakdown is as follows; cannabis 205,373kg, psychotropic substances 133,920kg, methamphetamine 340.8kg and cocaine 290.2kg. Others are heroin 24.53kg, amphetamine 19.297 and ephedrine 0.28 grammes. “However, in 2012, a total of 8,052 persons comprising of 7,510 males and 542 females were investigated. Drugs weighing 233,699.875kg were also seized from traffickers.
The seized drugs include 228,794.13kg of cannabis, 3,905.447kg of psychotropic substances, 461.15kg of ephedrine, 211.325kg of heroin, 176.55kg of methamphetamine, 131.888kg of cocaine and 19.385kg of amphetamine.” The analysis from the tables of arrest and drug seizure shows an increase of 791 arrested persons over that of 2012. While male arrest increased by 814, females reduced by 23. Seized drugs increased by 106,268.125kg over that of 2012.
While cocaine and methamphetamine went up by 158.312kg and 164.25kg respectively; cannabis reduced by 23,421.13kg. It is worthy of note that the rise in cocaine seizure is due to the single seizure of 163.5kg made in 2013. The Agency at the Apapa Port command, Lagos recorded a significant seizure of 129,901kg of Toluene, a precursor chemical used for methamphetamine.
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