Grandmother dealer: Police in Nigeria arrested a 101-year-old woman
"Arrested with commercial quantities of marijuana": Authorities in Nigeria arrested an elderly woman with dozens of bags of cannabis in her possession. The suspicion is that her daughter transferred the drugs to her. At the same time, Britain and Nigeria arrested two suspects in a joint operation with cocaine worth 20 million dollars.
Police in Nigeria arrested 101-year-old Esther Ogunmambu over the weekend after "commercial quantities of marijuana" were found on her, authorities in the country announced today, Monday. According to a report by the BBC, Ogunmambu was caught with dozens of bags of cannabis, each weighing 90 grams, which she sold to buyers.
Ogunmambu told the police that she started dealing drugs after losing the grocery store she owned in a fire, according to a statement from Nigeria's National Drug Law Enforcement Agency. The investigation revealed that it was Ogunmambu's daughter, who lives in Lagos, who transferred the drugs to her. It is suspected that the daughter ensured a regular supply of marijuana reached Ogunmambu every four days.
Following Ogunmambu's testimony, her daughter was also arrested by the police. However, Ogunmambu was released on bail. The director of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Muhammad Marwa, claimed that there is no justification for keeping the 101-year-old in custody due to her advanced age.
This case joins a series of actions taken by authorities in Nigeria as part of the fight against drug trafficking and distribution in recent months. Alongside the arrests of suspects, authorities in the country are also acting against smuggling routes and those involved in the supply of drugs. Last week, for example, a boat was seized on its way to Cameroon carrying dozens of kilograms of drugs.
At the same time, authorities in Nigeria are increasing pressure on suspects in drug trafficking and distribution through surveillance, raids, and arrests across the country and on sea routes. The fight is not focused only on the smugglers themselves, but also on the logistics networks that enable the transfer of drugs out of Nigeria. The British BBC network reported that in a joint investigation by Britain and Nigeria, authorities managed to arrest two dealers with more than 180 kilograms of cocaine, worth about 20 million dollars.
