The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has announced that former beauty queen Oluwadamilola Aderinoye has surrendered to its Lagos command.
The agency had accused Aderinoye, who was Miss Commonwealth Nigeria Culture in 2015/2016, of going into hiding after being declared wanted eight months ago.
According to a statement released on Sunday by NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, Aderinoye was declared wanted after escaping during a raid on her Lekki apartment on January 24, 2024.
During the raid, NDLEA operatives recovered 606 grams of Canadian Loud (a synthetic strain of cannabis), an electronic weighing scale, large quantities of drug packaging materials, a black RAV 4 SUV with license plate Lagos KSF 872 GQ, and a picture frame, among other items.
Babafemi revealed that Aderinoye, who is also known as Queen Christmas and the founder of the Queen Christmas Foundation, claimed she had been hiding in Akure, Ondo State since her escape. She finally turned herself in on Wednesday, August 28.
In related developments, Babafemi detailed significant drug seizures made by the NDLEA.
Operatives intercepted a total of 31,124,600 tramadol 225mg pills and bottles of codeine-based syrup worth over N17.93 billion at the Port Harcourt Port Complex in Onne, Rivers State, and Tincan Seaport in Lagos.
These seizures were the result of intelligence gathered on shipments originating from India, leading to a joint examination of the watch-listed containers by the NDLEA, Nigerian Customs Service, and other security agencies.
The breakdown of the seizures includes 350,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup from two containers at Tincan port in Lagos on August 29 and 30, 2024, and 29,840,000 tramadol 225mg pills along with 380,000 bottles of codeine syrup from three containers at the Port Harcourt Port Complex on August 29.
Another set of three containers examined on August 30 resulted in the recovery of 554,600 bottles of codeine syrup, bringing the total seized to 1,284,600 bottles, valued at N8.99 billion. The total tramadol seized was valued at N8.94 billion.
Additionally, Babafemi reported several arrests. On August 27, NDLEA operatives at Port Harcourt International Airport apprehended Eze Emekan Don attempting to board a flight to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, with 1,490 tramadol pills disguised as cosmetics.
In Lagos, operatives seized 1,122 kilograms of cannabis from a suspect, Mustapha Ibrahim, on August 26 along Orchid Road, Ajah.
An additional 816 kilograms of cannabis belonging to another suspect, who is still at large, was also recovered from the same location.
In Niger State, on August 26, NDLEA operatives arrested Friday Gabriel along Minna-Suleja road with 1,900 tramadol capsules, 300 bottles of codeine syrup, and 600 packets of exol-5 tablets.
Meanwhile, in Bauchi State on August 31, operatives arrested Garba Muhammed and Usman Yakubu Shehu along Bauchi-Gombe road, transporting 308 blocks of cannabis weighing 246.4kg, hidden in a false compartment of a J5 bus marked Edo State URM 38 ZY.
 has announced that former beauty queen Oluwadamilola Aderinoye has surrendered to its Lagos command.){kind=link}