“My Daughter Packed the Drugs”: US Grandma, 62, Caught at Lagos Airport with 9.45kg Loud Hidden as Gift for Daughter’s Fiancé

A 62-year-old Nigerian-American grandmother and Texas realtor has told National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) operatives that her own daughter and the daughter’s future brother-in-law packed nearly 10 kilogrammes of high-grade synthetic cannabis into her luggage and asked her to deliver it in Nigeria.

Anetor Gloria Ubong, who holds dual Nigerian and United States passports and lives in Richmond, Texas, was arrested on Wednesday, 21 October 2026, shortly after stepping off a United Airlines flight from Houston at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

Officers searching her two checked-in boxes discovered 18 carefully wrapped parcels of “loud” — a potent synthetic cannabis — weighing a total of 9.45kg. The drugs had been concealed inside a box and covered with gift-wrapping paper, giving the appearance of ordinary presents.

According to the NDLEA statement released on Sunday by Director of Media and Advocacy Femi Babafemi, Ubong immediately claimed she had no knowledge of the contents. She told investigators the sealed box was delivered to her home in the United States by her daughter and the daughter’s prospective brother-in-law.

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Her assignment, she said, was simply to hand it over in Nigeria to her daughter’s fiancé, identified only as Jibola.

The arrest forms part of a series of major interdictions by the agency in recent weeks. In a separate operation at the same airport earlier in the month, officers intercepted a 34-year-old South African woman, Qhina Beauty, with 36.65kg of cocaine hidden in her travelling bags as she prepared to board a Qatar Airways flight to South Africa via Doha. Investigations into that case also led to the arrest of a Lagos-based car dealer allegedly linked to the syndicate.

Across the country, NDLEA commands in Lagos, Delta, Kano, Bauchi, Niger, Edo, Ondo, Taraba and Oyo states have continued to dismantle drug networks, recovering large quantities of cannabis, pharmaceutical opioids, codeine syrup, diazepam, tramadol and other substances. Cannabis farms have been destroyed and multiple suspects taken into custody.

Ubong’s case has drawn particular attention because of the family connection she described. At 62 and a property professional living in the United States, she presented herself as an ordinary traveller returning home with gifts.

Instead, she now faces serious trafficking charges after the “gift box” was found to contain a commercial quantity of synthetic cannabis.

NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd) has repeatedly warned travellers never to carry packages whose contents they have not personally packed, even when the request comes from close family members. The agency said investigations into Ubong’s claims and any possible links to others named in her statement are continuing.

The grandmother remains in NDLEA custody as the case proceeds.