JUST IN: NDLEA arrests South African woman with 5.75kg heroin, seizes N10.3bn cannabis at Lagos Port

Africa, Crime Diary

ABUJA, Nigeria (NPA) — Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a South African woman at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, after allegedly discovering 5.75 kilograms of heroin concealed in her luggage, while using her three-year-old son as cover to avoid suspicion.

The agency also announced the seizure of 4,143.5 kilograms of Canadian Loud cannabis valued at more than ₦10.3 billion at the Apapa Seaport in Lagos, alongside the arrest of an alleged drug courier who excreted 100 wraps of methamphetamine after arriving in Nigeria.

According to a statement issued on Sunday by the Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the South African suspect, Will Jessica Ann, 38, was arrested on July 6 during the inward clearance of passengers on Qatar Airways Flight QR1433 from Doha to Abuja.

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NDLEA said the suspect initially denied travelling with any checked luggage. However, officers later established that two suitcases containing the illicit drugs bore baggage tags matching the claim tags attached to her passport.

The agency said the bags contained 14 large blocks of heroin weighing 5.75kg.

“She later admitted ownership of the luggage, claiming she had forgotten that she checked in the bags,” the statement said.

Investigations indicated that the suspect travelled from Cambodia through Doha to Abuja and is believed to be linked to a transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating between Cambodia and South Africa.

According to the NDLEA, intelligence reports suggest she and her husband, Jan Coenraad De Jager, who is based in Cambodia, are members of the international drug network.

In a separate operation at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, NDLEA operatives arrested Onyechere Daniel Chinadu, a 48-year-old commercial motorcycle rider, shortly after he arrived from Madagascar via Addis Ababa aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight.

A search of his luggage led to the recovery of 87 wraps of methamphetamine concealed inside clothing.

During interrogation, the suspect told investigators that he had worked as an Okada rider in Lagos for about 15 years before allegedly being recruited into drug trafficking by a friend based in Uganda.

He claimed he ingested additional drug pellets in Uganda before travelling to Madagascar, where immigration authorities reportedly denied him entry, forcing him to return to Nigeria.

Unable to state the exact quantity of drugs he had swallowed, NDLEA placed him under medical observation.

Over the next three days, the suspect excreted 13 additional pellets, bringing the total recovery to 100 wraps of methamphetamine weighing 1.715kg.

Meanwhile, at the Apapa Seaport, NDLEA officers, working jointly with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies, intercepted 8,287 nylon bags of Canadian Loud cannabis weighing 4,143.5kg during a joint examination of a container imported from Canada.

The agency estimated the street value of the seized drugs at more than ₦10.3 billion.

Babafemi said the seizure followed weeks of intelligence gathering and surveillance by the NDLEA’s Maritime Intelligence Unit in collaboration with the Apapa Strategic Command.

The agency also thwarted an attempt to export 2.5kg of skunk, a strain of cannabis, concealed inside a gas compressor destined for Cyprus through a Lagos-based courier company.

Beyond enforcement operations, the NDLEA said it continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign through sensitisation programmes in schools and communities across the country, including outreach activities in Ebonyi, Kano, Ekiti, Ogun and Rivers states.

Commending officers involved in the operations, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), praised the agency’s efforts in combating drug trafficking while sustaining public awareness campaigns.

He urged officers nationwide to remain vigilant and continue intensifying both enforcement and preventive measures against illicit drug activities.