NDLEA arrests South African with heroin, seizes N10.3bn drugs

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 38-year-old South African woman at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, for allegedly attempting to smuggle 5.75 kilograms of heroin into Nigeria while travelling with her three-year-old son.

The agency said the suspect, identified as Will Ann, was arrested on July 6 during the clearance of passengers on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha after operatives discovered 14 large blocks of heroin concealed in two suitcases.

In a statement on Sunday by the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the NDLEA said the woman initially denied travelling with any checked luggage but later admitted ownership after investigators matched the baggage tags to those attached to her passport.

According to the agency, the suspect claimed she travelled from Cambodia through Doha to Abuja. Preliminary intelligence, however, linked her to a transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating along the Cambodia–South Africa route with her husband and alleged accomplice, Jan Coenraad De Jager.

In a separate operation at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, NDLEA operatives arrested a 48-year-old commercial motorcycle rider, Onyechere Chinadu, shortly after he arrived from Madagascar via Addis Ababa.

A search of his luggage led to the recovery of 87 wraps of methamphetamine concealed inside clothing. The suspect later confessed to swallowing additional pellets of the drug before embarking on the trip.

The agency said he was placed under observation, during which he excreted 13 more pellets, bringing the total seizure to 100 wraps of methamphetamine weighing 1.715 kilograms.

Chinadu reportedly told investigators he had worked as an okada rider in Lagos for 15 years before being recruited into drug trafficking by an associate based in Uganda.

At the Apapa Seaport in Lagos, the agency also intercepted 8,287 bags of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, weighing 4,143.5 kilograms and valued at over N10.3 billion.

NDLEA said the drugs were uncovered during a joint inspection involving the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies after weeks of surveillance on a container shipped from Montreal, Canada.

The agency also thwarted 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 operations, the NDLEA said it continued its War Against Drug Abuse campaign with sensitisation programmes in schools across Ebonyi, Kano, Ekiti and Ogun states, while its Zone 14 Command paid an advocacy visit to Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara.

NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, retired Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa, commended officers involved in the operations and urged commands nationwide to sustain efforts to curb drug trafficking and abuse while expanding public awareness campaigns.