Segun Akanni, Toronto, Canada 
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested two grandmothers planning to export narcotic drugs to New York, United States and Saudi Arabia.
The suspects allegedly ingested 108 wraps of substances that tested positive for heroin and cocaine during outward screening of passengers at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos.
Commenting on the action, the grandmothers blamed their involvement in drug trafficking on financial hardship.
According to the NDLEA commander at the airport, Ahmadu Garba, one of the women scheduled to travel to the US, 60-year-old Ebunoluwa Adebayo, ingested 86 wraps of the illicit drugs, weighing 1.105kg, while 59-year-old Ayisat Amodu ingested 275g of cocaine.
“Adebayo Ebunoluwa Mercy was arrested while boarding a Virgin Atlantic flight to New York, while Amodu Ayisat Grace was caught trying to board an Ethiopian airline flight on her way to Medina, Saudi Arabia. The cases are under investigation,” Garba said.
“I am a divorcee who sells groceries for survival. Things became rough and tough for me when I lost my capital due to family problems. It has been my dream to travel to the United States in search of greener pastures. My involvement in drug trafficking was an afterthought. My intention when I got my visa last year was to go and work to take care of my needs without being a burden to anyone,” Adebayo was quoted by the NDLEA as saying in a statement issued on Saturday.
Amodu stated that she was offered a trip to Saudi Arabia “and a handsome reward and I fell for trick. I only swallowed 25 wraps of the drug.”
Speaking on the arrests, the NDLEA boss, Col. Muhammad Abdallah (retd.) said, “This move by drug cartels to recruit grandmothers as mules is very disturbing, shocking and shameful. The moral emptiness exhibited by the suspects must be condemned by all. A situation where grandmothers have become a bad influence on their children and grandchildren is highly regrettable.”
