Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a South African woman at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja, for attempting to smuggle 5.75 kilogrammes of heroin into Nigeria.
Femi Babafemi, NDLEA’s director of media and advocacy, in a statement on Sunday, said the suspect, identified as 38-year-old Will Jessica Ann, was arrested on July 6 during the inward clearance of passengers on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha.
According to Babafemi, the suspect concealed 14 large blocks of heroin weighing 5.75 kilogrammes in two checked bags and travelled with her three-year-old son in an attempt to beat security checks and avoid thorough screening.
The NDLEA spokesperson said the woman initially denied travelling with any checked luggage.
Babafemi said operatives later established that the baggage tags attached to the two suitcases matched the claim tags on her passport.
He said the suspect subsequently admitted ownership of the bags, claiming she forgot that she had checked them in.
According to him, the woman travelled from Cambodia through Doha to Abuja.
He added that intelligence reports indicate she is a member of a transnational drug trafficking syndicate allegedly operating along the Cambodia-South Africa route with her husband or partner, identified as Jan Coenraad De Jager.
In a separate operation, Babafemi said NDLEA operatives arrested 48-year-old Onyechere Daniel Chinadu at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, on June 28 after he arrived from Madagascar via Addis Ababa aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
He said officers recovered 87 wraps of methamphetamine concealed inside clothing in the suspect’s backpack.
Babafemi said Chinadu told investigators he had worked as an okada (commercial motorcycle) rider in Lagos for 15 years before a friend based in Uganda recruited him into drug trafficking.
He added that the suspect confessed to swallowing an unknown number of methamphetamine pellets in Uganda before travelling to Madagascar.
According to Babafemi, Chinadu was denied entry into Madagascar by immigration authorities and was rerouted to Lagos, where he was arrested.
He said the suspect was placed under excretion observation because he could not state the number of pellets he ingested.
Babafemi said Chinadu excreted 13 additional pellets over three days, bringing the total seizure to 100 wraps of methamphetamine weighing 1.715 kilogrammes.
The NDLEA spokesperson also said operatives intercepted 8,287 bags of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, weighing 4,143.5 kilogrammes and valued at more than N10.3 billion at the Apapa seaport in Lagos.
He said the drugs were discovered in a container imported from Canada during a joint examination involving the NDLEA, the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies on Friday.
Babafemi said the seizure followed weeks of intelligence-led tracking of the shipment from Montreal, Canada, by the agency’s Maritime Intelligence Unit in collaboration with its Apapa strategic command.
He added that NDLEA officers also foiled an attempt to export 2.5 kilogrammes of skunk concealed inside a gas compressor bound for Cyprus through a courier company in Lagos.
Babafemi said the agency continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaign across schools, communities and workplaces in different parts of the country.
He added that Mohammed Buba Marwa, chairman and chief executive officer of the NDLEA, commended officers involved in the arrests and seizures, urging them to sustain efforts to curb drug trafficking while expanding public awareness campaigns.
