Former Beauty Queen Surrenders to NDLEA After 8-Month Search

A former beauty queen, who had been on the run for eight months, has surrendered to the NDLEA. Learn more about her surrender and ongoing case.

After being on the run for several months, former beauty queen Oluwadamilola Aderinoye has voluntarily turned herself in to the Lagos command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), as announced by the agency.

After being declared wanted by the NDLEA in January, Aderinoye – formerly known as Miss Commonwealth Nigeria Culture 2015/2016 – has been on the lam.

On the 24th of January, 2024, her Lekki apartment was raided and she successfully fled from captivity as confirmed by the agency.

The former beauty queen is being sought in connection with drug-related offences, according to a statement released on Sunday by Femi Babafemi, the spokesperson of NDLEA.

In January, her residence was raided by NDLEA operatives who reportedly confiscated a significant amount of Canadian Loud – a concentrated synthetic cannabis strain weighing 606 grams. Additionally, the officers discovered an electronic scale used for measuring drugs and several drug packaging materials along with a black RAV4 SUV.

READ ALSO: NDLEA: Drugs Hidden in Cerelac Tins, Clothes Bound for US, UK (SEE PHOTOS)

“After evading arrest for almost eight months, Ms. Queen Oluwadamilola Aderinoye, also known as Ms. Queen Christmas and the suspect in an illicit drug activities case, has finally surrendered herself,” Babafemi announced. “In January of this year during a raid by NDLEA operatives who had received credible intelligence about her involvement in such activity at her home located in Lekki Lagos is when she fled.”

On Wednesday, August 28th, Aderinoye surrendered to the agency after claiming she had been in hiding within Akure of Ondo State following her escape.

In addition to that, the NDLEA disclosed multiple noteworthy drug confiscations. In Rivers State’s Port Harcourt Port Complex and Lagos’ Tincan seaport, authorities halted more than 31 million units of tramadol pills and codeine-based syrup bottles worth N17.9 billion. This outcome ensued from intelligence that initiated a combined examination of monitored containers.

NDLEA officers at the Port Harcourt International Airport apprehended Eze Emekan Don, a suspect who tried to smuggle 1,490 tramadol pills disguised as cosmetics while boarding a flight headed for Equatorial Guinea during an independent operation.

The efforts made by the NDLEA to counter drug trafficking and abuse across Nigeria were underscored by further arrests and seizures related to drugs in Niger, Lagos, as well as Bauchi states.