The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 38-year-old South African woman, Ms. Will Jessica Ann, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, for allegedly attempting to smuggle 5.75 kilograms of heroin into Nigeria while using her three-year-old son as cover to evade security checks.
The suspect was apprehended on Monday, July 6, during the clearance of passengers arriving on Qatar Airways flight QR1433 from Doha. NDLEA said she initially denied travelling with any checked-in luggage but later admitted ownership after officers matched the baggage tags to those attached to her passport.
According to the agency, the two suitcases contained 14 large blocks of heroin weighing 5.75 kilograms. She told investigators she had travelled from Cambodia through Doha to Abuja.
Preliminary intelligence indicates that the suspect is allegedly linked to a transnational drug trafficking network operating between Cambodia and South Africa alongside her husband and alleged accomplice, Jan Coenraad De Jager.
In a separate operation at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, NDLEA operatives arrested 48-year-old commercial motorcycle rider, Onyechere Daniel Chinadu, after he arrived from Madagascar via Addis Ababa on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
A search of his backpack led to the recovery of 87 wraps of methamphetamine concealed in clothing. During interrogation, the suspect claimed he had worked as an Okada rider in Lagos for 15 years before being recruited into drug trafficking by a Uganda-based associate.
He further revealed that he had swallowed additional pellets of methamphetamine in Uganda before travelling to Madagascar, where he was denied entry by immigration authorities. His sponsor allegedly rerouted him to Lagos, where NDLEA officers arrested him.
Following three days under excretion observation, the suspect expelled 13 additional pellets, bringing the total recovery to 100 wraps of methamphetamine weighing 1.715 kilograms.
Meanwhile, at the Apapa Seaport in Lagos, NDLEA, in collaboration with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies, intercepted 8,287 bags of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, weighing 4,143.5 kilograms and valued at over N10.3 billion.
The drugs were discovered in a container imported from Canada during a joint examination conducted on Friday, July 10, following weeks of intelligence-led monitoring by the agency’s Maritime Intelligence Unit.
In another operation, NDLEA operatives also foiled an attempt to export 2.5 kilograms of skunk concealed inside a gas compressor destined for Cyprus through a Lagos-based courier company.
Beyond enforcement, the agency said it sustained its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign across schools, communities and public institutions in Ebonyi, Kano, Ekiti, Ogun and Rivers states through sensitisation and advocacy programmes.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended officers involved in the arrests and seizures, urging them to sustain the momentum in reducing drug trafficking while intensifying public awareness against drug abuse.
