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, Abuja, for attempting to smuggle 5.75 kilogrammes of heroin into Nigeria while using her three-year-old son as a cover to evade security checks.
The agency also intercepted an alleged commercial motorcycle rider who excreted 100 wraps of methamphetamine after arriving in Lagos from Madagascar, while officers seized 4,143.5 kilograms of Canadian Loud cannabis worth over N10.3 billion at the Apapa Seaport.
NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday, July 12, said the South African suspect was arrested on Monday, July 6, during the arrival clearance of passengers on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha.
Although she initially denied travelling with checked baggage, investigators linked two suitcases containing 14 blocks of heroin to her through luggage tags attached to her passport.
According to the agency, intelligence revealed that the suspect belongs to a transnational drug trafficking syndicate 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, Lagos, NDLEA operatives arrested 48-year-old Onyechere Daniel Chinadu after discovering 87 wraps of methamphetamine concealed in his backpack.
He was subsequently placed under observation and excreted 13 additional pellets, bringing the total to 100 wraps weighing 1.715 kilogrammes.
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 who allegedly sponsored the failed trip to Madagascar.
At the Apapa Port, NDLEA, working with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies, uncovered 8,287 bags of Canadian Loud concealed in a container imported from Canada.
The drugs, weighing 4,143.5 kilogrammes, have an estimated street value of over N10.3 billion.
The agency also foiled an attempt to export 2.5 kilogrammes of skunk hidden inside a gas compressor destined for Cyprus through a Lagos courier company.
Beyond enforcement operations, the NDLEA said it sustained its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign with sensitisation programmes in schools and communities across Ebonyi, Kano, Ekiti and Ogun states, while officials also paid an advocacy visit to the Rivers State Government.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers involved in the arrests and seizures and urged them to sustain the momentum in reducing drug supply while intensifying anti-drug awareness campaigns nationwide.
