• Indian lady, Angolan, another jailed 21 years in Kano, Enugu
• Convicts forfeit Lagos hotel, cars used for drug business

Justice Deinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court in Lagos has sentenced a businessman, Johnson Uchenna, and his wife, Rosemary, to 22 and a half years imprisonment for dealing in illicit drugs.
 
The couple was first arrested on Friday, June 13, 2025, by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) in Ojo area of the state and transferred to NDLEA along with 277.5kg of skunk, a strain of cannabis.
 
While in custody and under investigation, credible intelligence revealed that the ‘family business’ was going on in their house. This led to a raid of the suspects’ home and a store where 231kg of the same substance was recovered by NDLEA operatives on Tuesday, July 1.
 
They were subsequently arraigned in charge number FHC/L/632C/2025 at the Federal High Court, Lagos, on four counts bordering on conspiracy, dealing and storage of 414.2kg of cannabis sativa.
 
Delivering judgment on the case on Monday, August 4,  Justice Dipeolu convicted Mrs Rosemary Uchenna on Counts one, two and three, and sentenced her to 17 years without an option of  fine, while her husband, Johnson, was sentenced to five years without the option of fine on Count one and six months in jail on Count four with an option of N1 million fine.
 
In addition to the jail terms, the trial judge also ordered that N3.407 million recovered from the couple, suspected to be proceeds of crime, be forfeited to the Federal Government.

Similarly, Justice Simon Amobeda of the Federal High Court in Kano has convicted and sentenced a 42-year-old Indian lady, Neetu Neetu, to five years for importing 72 parcels of heroin factory-sealed in wafer wraps and packaged as chocolates, weighing 11 kilogrammes into Nigeria through the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano.
 
The class A drug consignment was recovered from Neetu’s luggage after a thorough search, following processed credible intelligence, during an inward clearance of Qatar Airways flight QR1431 from Bangkok, Thailand, via Vietnam and Doha, at the arrival hall of the Kano airport on Friday, March 14, 2025.

She was subsequently arraigned in charge number FHC/KN/CR/65/2025 before Justice Amobeda, who eventually sentenced her to 10 years on two counts with an option of a N2 million fine.
 
Also, a 42-year-old Angolan businessman, Mbala Abuba, was convicted and sentenced to five years by Justice Mohammed Yunusa of a Federal High Court in Kano following his arrest and arraignment by NDLEA for ingesting 120 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.829kg.
  
Abuba, who is from the Zaire province in Angola, was arrested on Tuesday, February 25,  2025, at the screening point of the Kano airport while trying to board Egypt Air flight MS 880 to Istanbul, Turkey, via Cairo.
 
Further, a Federal High Court in Enugu convicted another drug trafficker, Christian Eze, on two counts of unlawful trafficking and possession of 11.20kg of cocaine, brought against him by the NDLEA in charge number FHC/EN/CS/9/2023.

He was arrested on January 20, 2023 by NDLEA operatives at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, upon arrival from Brazil via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 11.20kg of cocaine concealed in herbal tea sachets.

He was subsequently arraigned before Justice M. G. Umar of the Federal High Court, Enugu, who eventually sentenced him to three years on each count, totalling six years.

The sentence will run concurrently from May 20, 2023.  In yet another high impact breakthrough in its ongoing war against illicit drug trafficking across Nigeria, the NDLEA secured the final forfeiture of a multi-billion naira 80-room hotel and lounge in Victoria Island, Lagos, linked to an illicit drug cartel along with other assets.
 
The 80-room hotel, used as a cover for distributing illicit substances, was raided between April 25 and 26, 2025 by NDLEA operatives, After hours of combing the rooms, 589 bags of Canadian Loud, a strong strain of cannabis weighing 417.3kg and worth N1.04 billion in street value was recovered.
 
Forfeited along with the landed property on Waziri Ibrahim Street, off Elsie Femi Pearse Road, Victoria Island, include a Toyota Sienna marked KJA 79 HJ; Volkswagen delivery van (AAA 525 JE); Kia Ceranto (BDG 860 GQ); Land Cruiser Prado (AKD 472 DZ); Grand Caravan Dodge (APP 847 YF); Mazda bus (KTU 241 AAA); Mercedes Benz truck (ASB 500 XY); Toyota Corolla (EKY 295 JT); Sienna Mini bus; 84 television sets, 70 new air conditioners and 13  new refrigerators.
 
The final forfeiture orders were issued on Friday, July 18, 2025 by Justice Ibrahim Kala following motion number FHC/L/MISC/447/2025 filed by NDLEA.
Reacting to the conviction and forfeiture judgments, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig-Gen Mohamed Marwa (rtd) commended the various commands of the agency, their officers and men that handled the various cases, as well as the judiciary, for delivering prompt judgments to strengthen the deterrent effect of NDLEA efforts.
  
“Nothing serves the cause of justice more than when the criminal elements are given long jail terms and made to forfeit all they have acquired through the proceeds of their illicit drug trade, and we’re happy with this kind of judicial pronouncements, which will not only encourage our men to do more but will have a long lasting impact on our drug control efforts,” Marwa stated.