The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 38-year-old South African woman, identified as Will Jessica Ann, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, for allegedly attempting to smuggle 5.75 kilogrammes of heroin into Nigeria while travelling with her three-year-old son.
The anti-narcotics agency said the suspect was apprehended on July 6, 2026, during the clearance of passengers arriving aboard Qatar Airways Flight QR1433 from Doha.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by Femi Babafemi, the agency’s director of media and advocacy, the suspect allegedly concealed 14 large parcels of heroin inside two suitcases but initially denied travelling with any checked-in baggage.
Babafemi said NDLEA operatives, however, matched the baggage tags on the luggage with claim tags attached to the suspect’s passport, forcing her to admit ownership of the bags.
“Though she initially denied travelling with check-in bags, after operatives were able to quickly establish that the two bags containing the drugs had tags which tallied with the claim tags attached to her passport, she recanted and admitted ownership of the bags, adding that she forgot she checked in the two bags,” the statement said.
Investigators said the suspect claimed she travelled from Cambodia through Doha to Abuja, while intelligence reports linked her to a transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating along the Cambodia-South Africa route.
The agency further alleged that the network involved her husband and an associate identified as Jan Coenraad De Jager.
In a separate operation at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, NDLEA operatives arrested a 48-year-old commercial motorcyclist, Onyechere Chinadu, shortly after arriving from Madagascar via Addis Ababa on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
The agency said an initial search of his backpack uncovered 87 wraps of methamphetamine hidden inside clothing materials.
During interrogation, the suspect reportedly confessed that he had spent about 15 years as an okada rider in Lagos before being recruited into drug trafficking by an associate based in Uganda.
“He said he ingested the recovered pellets of methamphetamine in Uganda before embarking on his planned journey to Madagascar to deliver the drug consignment,” the statement added.
NDLEA said Chinadu was denied entry into Madagascar and was subsequently redirected to Nigeria by his sponsors.
Because he could not state the exact quantity of drugs swallowed, he was placed under medical observation. Between the date of his arrest and July 11, he reportedly excreted 13 additional pellets, bringing the total recovery to 100 wraps of methamphetamine weighing 1.715 kilogrammes.
Meanwhile, at the Apapa Seaport in Lagos, NDLEA announced the interception of 8,287 bags of Canadian Loud, a potent synthetic cannabis strain, weighing 4,143.5 kilogrammes and valued at more than ₦10.3 billion.
The illicit consignment was discovered during a joint examination conducted by NDLEA officers, the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies after weeks of intelligence-driven surveillance.
“The discovery followed weeks of targeted tracking and monitoring of the shipment since its departure from Montreal, Canada, by operatives of the Maritime Intelligence Unit of NDLEA in close collaboration with the Apapa Strategic Command of the Agency,” Babafemi stated.
The agency also disclosed that its operatives thwarted an attempt to export 2.5 kilogrammes of skunk concealed inside a gas compressor destined for Cyprus through a Lagos-based courier service.
Beyond enforcement activities, NDLEA said its commands across the country continued public sensitisation campaigns under its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) initiative, conducting awareness programmes in schools across Ebonyi, Kano, Ekiti and Ogun states.
The agency added that officials of its Zone 14 Command also paid an advocacy visit to Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara as part of efforts to strengthen anti-drug campaigns.
Commending officers involved in the operations, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), praised the commands for sustaining a balance between drug interdiction and preventive education.
Marwa urged operatives nationwide “not to rest on their past laurels” as the agency intensifies its fight against illicit drug trafficking and abuse across the country.
