Aderinoye Queen Christmas, also known as Queen Oluwadamilola Aderinoye, a former beauty queen declared wanted by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), has surrendered to the Lagos State Command after approximately eight months in hiding.
NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi announced in a statement on Sunday, September 1, 2024, that Aderinoye turned herself in on Wednesday, August 28.
She had been on the run since January 2024, after escaping a raid by anti-narcotic operatives at her residence in the Lekki area of Lagos, following intelligence reports linking her to illicit drug activities.
Aderinoye, who was crowned Miss Commonwealth Nigeria Culture 2015/2016 and is the founder of Queen Christmas Foundation, was reportedly hiding in Akure, Ondo State, since her escape.
During the raid on her home, NDLEA officials, in the presence of estate representatives, recovered 606 grams of Canadian Loud (a synthetic strain of cannabis), an electronic weighing scale, a large quantity of drug packaging materials, a black RAV 4 SUV with Lagos license plates, and other items.
In related developments, NDLEA operatives seized 1,122 kilograms of cannabis from a suspect named Mustapha Ibrahim along Orchid Road in Ajah, Lagos State, on Monday, August 26. An additional 816 kilograms of cannabis, belonging to another suspect still at large, was recovered from the same location.
Responding to these recent seizures and arrests, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) commended the officers for their vigilance and professionalism. He praised the agency’s operatives nationwide for their dedication to both drug demand reduction and drug supply reduction efforts.
