A Nigerian woman residing in Lynn, Massachusetts, United States, Gladys Adaeze Okafor, has reportedly been arrested and charged for voting illegally in the 2022 midterm elections.

56-year-old Okafor was also accused of voting in the 2024 presidential primary election despite not being a United States citizen.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts disclosed this in a statement issued on Wednesday.

According to the statement, “BOSTON – A Nigerian national residing in Lynn, Mass. has been arrested and charged with illegally voting in the 2022 midterm elections. Defendant also allegedly voted in the 2024 Presidential primary election.”

The statement identified the defendant as Okafor and said she was charged with unlawfully voting as an alien. It added that she was arrested on Wednesday morning and was expected to appear in federal court in Boston later that day.

The statement stated further: “Gladys Adaeze Okafor, 56, is charged with unlawfully voting as an alien. The defendant was arrested this morning and will appear in federal court in Boston later today.”

According to the charging documents, Okafor is a Nigerian citizen who was born in Aba, Nigeria. The documents stated that she obtained lawful permanent resident status in December 2022 but was not a US citizen and had not applied for US citizenship.

The US Attorney’s Office said the alleged voting offences began before Okafor obtained her permanent resident status.

It said, “In July 2022, Okafor allegedly submitted a voter registration card, signing her name under a certification which provided ‘I am a citizen of the United States … Signed under penalty of perjury.’ The City of Lynn subsequently registered her to vote, and Okafor allegedly voted in the midterm elections that fall.”

The authorities further alleged that Okafor registered to vote again in 2023 and declared herself a US citizen on the registration form.

The statement said, “It is further alleged that Okafor submitted a second voter registration form in October of 2023, checking the ‘U.S. Citizen’ box and signing under the US citizen certification. Okafor allegedly voted in the 2024 presidential primary election.”

The charge of unlawful voting as an alien carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of up to $100,000.

The statement said, “The charge of unlawful voting as an alien provides for a sentence of up to one year in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of $100,000. The defendant may be subject to deportation upon completion of any sentence imposed.”

It added that any sentence would be determined by a federal district court judge based on the US Sentencing Guidelines and the statutes governing sentencing in federal criminal cases.

The case was announced by United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and Jeff Grimming, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England.

Assistant US Attorney Julissa Walsh of the Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.

The statement also linked the case to the district’s recently established Benefit & Voter Fraud Team, which was announced by Foley in March 2026.

It said, “On March 26, 2026, United States Attorney Leah B. Foley announced the creation of the Benefit & Voter Fraud Team, a district-wide initiative established in response to the rampant fraud being uncovered across Massachusetts.”

The US Department of Justice subsequently announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division in April 2026 to investigate and prosecute fraud against Americans.

The statement said, “On April 7, 2026, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. The Fraud Division is investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people.”

The office, however, stressed that the allegations contained in the charging document had not been established in court.

It stated, “The details contained in the charging document are allegations. The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in the court of law.”

The death toll from the suspected poisonous herbal drink in Ondo State has risen to 49, while almost 200 people are reportedly affected by the health crisis.

According to latest reports, the incident, which started in Araromi-Obu and Odigbo communities in the Odigbo Local Government Area, has now spread to the Irele Local Government Area, where eight deaths have reportedly been reported.

It would be recalled that no fewer than 29 residents of Araromi-Obu and Odigbo were said to have died after consuming the substance.

However, the death toll has reportedly risen to 49 as of Wednesday.

The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Banji Ajaka, who confirmed the latest number of affected persons, said the health crisis had extended to the Irele Local Government Area.

Ajaka said eight people had been reported dead in Irele as of Tuesday night.

He said, “As we are now, Irele is where we have a serious issue. Our people were there and many people have died. About eight people have been recorded to have died as of last night.

“So, all the people that have been affected altogether now are about 170, those that have been admitted and those that have died.”

The commissioner attributed the health crisis to the consumption of ethanol by the victims, adding that the state government had intensified its response to prevent the situation from spreading to other local government areas.

He said medical and health officials, alongside other stakeholders, had been deployed to affected communities as soon as reports emerged.

“We are always fast about it. Wherever and whenever we hear reports of the issue, our teams are already in Irele as I’m talking to you now,” Ajaka added.

The Ondo State Police Command had earlier arrested a man, Oloruntoba Babatunde, popularly known as “Meko,” over the production of a herbal liquid substance suspected to be linked to the health crisis.

The command also said 14 other persons were arrested for allegedly violating a ban on the sale of herbal products imposed by the local government.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Abayomi Jimoh, disclosed this in a statement, adding that the command had commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the deaths.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says its operatives have uncovered a suspected methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State, and arrested a Mexican national accused of recruiting a methamphetamine expert into Nigeria.

Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), who disclosed this while briefing the media on the latest development in Lagos on Tuesday, said the breakthrough follows months of painstaking investigation into a wider criminal network behind a string of clandestine drug laboratories uncovered in parts of the country this year.

According to Marwa, who was represented by the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the suspect, Arturo Carrera Loaiza, was arrested on 19 August while trying to leave Nigeria through the Murtala Mohammad International Airport (MMI) in Lagos, following months of investigation into suspected methamphetamine production involving Mexican nationals and Nigerians in Ogun and Oyo states.

He stated that the investigation began with the arrest of three Mexican nationals and seven Nigerians at a forest hideout in Ogun State on 16 May.

A month later, on 17 June, NDLEA operatives arrested another Mexican, 56-year-old Jose Villa Ochoa, and four Nigerians at a suspected methamphetamine laboratory in Tapa village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State.

He explained that field tests at the site confirmed the presence of methamphetamine and precursor chemicals, noting that investigators later established that Ochoa had been recruited into Nigeria by Loaiza.

He explained while working with international partners, NDLEA investigators obtained a photograph of Loaiza. Ochoa later identified the man in the photograph as the person who recruited him and helped arrange his entry into Nigeria.

According to the NDLEA, Loaiza entered the country on 10 June with another Mexican national, Jose Ceballos Perez.

When questioned after his arrest, Loaiza told investigators that a Nigerian identified only as Henry had invited him to Nigeria for a restaurant business.

He denied any knowledge of methamphetamine production or involvement with the laboratory in Oyo State.

But investigators later found photographs showing him in a blue laboratory coat among equipment suspected to have been used for methamphetamine production.

Marwa said the photographs provided the next lead.

The NDLEA said location data attached to them led investigators to a property under construction at Isiata Ugoni Okposi in Ebonyi State.

Operatives searched the property on 30 August and linked it to John Samuel Ivo Okike.

People interviewed at the site, including a site engineer and a caretaker, told investigators about a temporary structure over a septic tank behind the building and persistent chemical odours from the premises, according to the agency.

Investigators also recovered a CCTV memory card from the property.

The NDLEA stated that forensic examination of the footage showed a foreign national in a blue laboratory coat whom investigators identified as Loaiza. Okike was also repeatedly seen at the property.

The footage allegedly showed chemicals and laboratory equipment being moved from the property at about 9 p.m. on 21 August, with Okike directing the operation.

The materials were later traced to an isolated house in a neighbouring community, where the agency said they had been kept by Nwanja Obasi.

A search of the house uncovered chemicals, laboratory equipment and other items suspected to be connected with methamphetamine production.

The NDLEA noted that the seizure included 442.8kg of acetone, 37.1kg of toluene, 20kg of an acetone/bromobenzene mixture, 1.7kg of ethanol, 5.1kg of chloride salt, 31.5kg of hydrochloric acid, 200kg of P2B and 1kg of tartaric acid.

Operatives also recovered dehydrators, a condenser, a fabricated reaction pot, pumps, weighing scales, mixers, drums, gas burners and other laboratory equipment.

One of the dehydrators contained a white cloth sieve with loose methamphetamine, while three others were empty, the agency said.

A blue laboratory coat recovered from the location was also said to match the coat worn by Loaiza in the photographs and CCTV footage.

The NDLEA said the photographs, CCTV footage, forensic examination and witness accounts would form part of the evidence being used to investigate those linked to the alleged network.

The latest development follows two major NDLEA operations involving Mexicansand suspected methamphetamine laboratories in the South-west since May.

“Through a clinical, simultaneous operation executed by the elite operatives of our Special Operations Unit (SOU), we have successfully dismantled a sophisticated, transnational methamphetamine production syndicate run jointly by a Nigerian drug cartel and their Mexican counterparts,” Mr Marwa said.

The NDLEA boss stated that the main target of the operation was a remote property located in Abidagba forest in Ijebu East Local Government Area of Ogun State, allegedly used as a clandestine methamphetamine production site by a syndicate identified as the Anochili Innocent Drug Trafficking Organisation.

He added that another team simultaneously raided a residence at Tafawa Balewa Street, Golf Estate, Lakowe, Lekki, Lagos, where the alleged leader of the cartel, Anochili Innocent, was arrested.

The agency has charged 10 people, including the three Mexican nationals arrested at the forest laboratory, over the alleged production of 2,419.48kg of methamphetamine. They pleaded not guilty.

“Nigeria will not be allowed to become a haven for transnational drug cartels seeking to relocate their laboratories from other jurisdictions into our forests and rural communities,” he said.

He commended officers involved in the operations, particularly personnel of the Special Operations Unit, Strike Force and Forensics teams, as well as NDLEA commands in Ogun, Oyo and Ebonyi.

The agency urged residents of rural and forest communities to report suspicious activities, unusual chemical odours and unfamiliar structures to it through its toll-free line, 080010203040, or info@ndlea.gov.ng