he National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 38-year-old South African woman, identified as Will 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 agency also announced the seizure of 4,143.5 kilogrammes of synthetic cannabis valued at over N10.3 billion at the Apapa Seaport, Lagos, alongside several other major anti-drug operations across the country.

In a statement issued on Sunday by the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the suspect was arrested on Monday, July 6, during the inward clearance of passengers on Qatar Airways Flight QR1433 from Doha.

According to the NDLEA, the woman allegedly concealed 14 large blocks of heroin inside two suitcases and initially denied travelling with any checked baggage.

The agency said its operatives, however, discovered that the baggage tags matched the claim tags attached to her passport, forcing her to admit ownership of the luggage.

“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.

The suspect reportedly told investigators she travelled from Cambodia through Doha to Abuja.

The NDLEA added that intelligence reports linked her to a transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating along the Cambodia-South Africa route, allegedly involving her husband and partner, Jan Coenraad De Jager.

In a related operation at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, operatives arrested a 48-year-old commercial motorcycle rider, Onyechere Chinadu, after he arrived from Madagascar via Addis Ababa aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight.

The agency said 87 wraps of methamphetamine were initially recovered from his backpack, concealed inside clothing.

According to investigators, the suspect confessed that he had worked as an okada rider in Lagos for 15 years before being recruited into international drug trafficking by an associate based in Uganda.

NDLEA said the suspect admitted swallowing methamphetamine pellets in Uganda before embarking on his trip to Madagascar to deliver the illicit consignment.

After he was reportedly denied entry into Madagascar, his sponsor allegedly redirected him to Lagos, where he was arrested.

The agency said he was placed under observation because he could not state the exact number of drug pellets he had ingested. Between his arrest and July 11, he excreted 13 additional pellets, bringing the total recovery to 100 wraps of methamphetamine weighing 1.715 kilogrammes.

Meanwhile, at the Apapa Seaport, Lagos, NDLEA officers intercepted 8,287 bags of Canadian Loud, a potent synthetic cannabis strain, weighing 4,143.5 kilogrammes with an estimated street value exceeding N10.3 billion.

The agency said the consignment was uncovered during a joint examination involving NDLEA operatives, the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies after weeks of intelligence-led surveillance on the container imported from Montreal, Canada.

“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,” the statement said.

In another operation, the anti-narcotics agency said it thwarted an attempt to export 2.5 kilogrammes of skunk concealed inside a gas compressor bound for Cyprus through a Lagos-based courier company.

Beyond enforcement activities, the NDLEA said its commands across the country continued the War Against Drug Abuse campaign through sensitisation programmes in secondary schools in Ebonyi, Kano, Ekiti and Ogun states, while officials of its Zone 14 Command paid an advocacy visit to Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara.

Commending officers involved in the operations, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, retired Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa, praised the commands for combining aggressive drug supply reduction efforts with sustained public awareness campaigns.

Marwa urged officers nationwide to remain committed to the agency’s fight against illicit drug trafficking and substance abuse, charging them “not to rest on their past laurels” in the ongoing campaign against narcotics.

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