A 34-year-old Ugandan woman has been arrested at Nigeria’s Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos after security officers discovered 87 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.15kg strapped around her pelvic area beneath two layers of underwear.
The suspect, identified as Faridah Nansubuga, was intercepted on 3 November 2026 during a passenger screening exercise conducted jointly by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and aviation security officers at Terminal 2.
According to the NDLEA, officers became suspicious and subjected her to a further search in a private room, where they discovered the cocaine concealed beneath her clothing.
The agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, announced the arrest on 8 November, revealing that Nansubuga had travelled to Nigeria on 29 October with members of her church to attend a prayer session at the Synagogue Church of All Nations in the Ikotun-Egbe area of Lagos.
Babafemi said Nansubuga remained in Nigeria after the rest of the church group returned to Uganda.
During questioning, she reportedly told investigators that she had agreed to transport the cocaine to Uganda for a friend identified only as Joy.
According to her account, Joy connected her to an individual in Nigeria who arranged to meet her at a hotel on the morning of her departure.
Nansubuga reportedly said a man handed her the drugs at the hotel and instructed her to strap the packages beneath her clothes to avoid detection at the airport.
She told investigators that she expected to receive at least US$1,000 after delivering the cocaine in Uganda, although she had not agreed on a specific payment with the people who arranged the operation.
