The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has announced the arrest of a notorious Lagos socialite and wanted drug kingpin, Aishat Elediye, popularly known as ‘Iya Ruka’ or ‘Alhaja Ajoke’.
The 61-year-old was apprehended at her mansion in Okota, Lagos, on January 1, following the interception of a truck loaded with illicit drugs by one of her staff.
In a statement released in Abuja, NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Mr. Femi Babafemi, disclosed that the arrest followed years of surveillance.
“Known in the drug underworld as ‘Iya Ruka,’ Alhaja Ajoke, as she is fondly called in the social circle, has her true identity shrouded in mystery for years while she remained on the wanted list of NDLEA for leading one of the drug cartels operating from Mushin area of Lagos,” the statement read.
Her arrest came after NDLEA operatives intercepted a white Isuzu truck carrying 44 jumbo sacks filled with 1,540 kilograms of imported cannabis.
The truck, driven by her staff member, Abideen Adio, 41, led the authorities to her residence at 33 Adebayo Oyewole Street, off Ago Palace Way, where she was taken into custody.
Babafemi revealed that although Alhaja Ajoke portrayed herself as a businesswoman importing fabrics and shoes from China, she was at the center of a massive drug operation.
She is also the Iyalaje of Blessing Sisters, a prominent Lagos social club.
Separately, the NDLEA made another high-profile arrest on December 27, 2024. Emeka Mbadiwe, a US-trained filmmaker and motivational speaker, was apprehended in his hotel room in Lekki.
His arrest followed the earlier detention of his partner, Uzoekwe James, at a warehouse in Ajao Estate, where he was sent to collect a shipment of 33 parcels of Loud cannabis weighing 17.30 kilograms.
The illicit shipment, concealed in large wooden boxes, arrived at Murtala Muhammed International Airport on a Delta Airline flight from the United States on December 24, 2024.
In Kwara State, two young women were detained on December 29, 2024, for producing and selling drug-laced cupcakes to students.
S 24-year-old fresh graduate, Khadijat Abdulraheem, and Ayomide Morakinyo, a 20-year-old University of Ilorin student, were arrested at Tanke-University of Ilorin road in Ilorin.
NDLEA operatives recovered 42 pieces of drugged cupcakes during a search of their apartment.
Meanwhile, an ex-convict, Sodade Sunday Eniola, has been re-arrested for passport racketeering.
Eniola, previously convicted for drug trafficking and given an option of a N750,000 fine in June 2024, was apprehended by the MMIA Strategic Command for his involvement in smuggling passports concealed in shoe soles and food items.
Investigations uncovered 52 passports bound for Canada, Russia, and other countries. Further probes led to the arrest of syndicate members Ayinde Saheed Awwal, Salaudeen Afeez Ayode, and Sheriff Adebayo Bamigbade.
The suspects and exhibits were handed over to the Nigerian Immigration Service in Lagos on December 30, 2024.
Also, NDLEA operatives at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex seized 316,800 bottles of codeine-based syrup during a joint operation with Nigeria Customs and other agencies.
The containers, flagged through intelligence, were intercepted on December 31, 2024.
