South African Woman Uses Three-Year-Old Son As Cover To Smuggle 5.75kg Heroin Into Nigeria – NDLEA

July 12, () — 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 (NAIA), Abuja, for allegedly attempting to smuggle 5.75 kilograms of heroin into Nigeria while using her three-year-old son as a cover to evade security scrutiny.

The agency disclosed on Sunday that the suspect was apprehended on Monday, July 6, 2026, during the inward clearance of passengers on Qatar Airways Flight QR1433 from Doha to Abuja after NDLEA operatives discovered 14 large blocks of heroin concealed inside two pieces of checked luggage linked to her travel documents.

According to the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the suspect initially denied travelling with any checked baggage in what investigators described as an attempt to frustrate the inspection process. However, NDLEA officers established that the baggage claim tags on the two suitcases matched the tags attached to her passport.

Faced with the evidence, the suspect admitted ownership of the luggage, claiming she had forgotten she had checked in the bags.

Investigators said intelligence gathered after her arrest revealed that she travelled from Cambodia through Doha to Abuja and is believed to be a member of a transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating between Cambodia and South Africa alongside her husband and alleged accomplice, Jan Coenraad De Jager.

The agency said investigations into the international drug network are ongoing.

In another major airport interception, NDLEA operatives at the arrival hall of Terminal 2 of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, arrested a 48-year-old commercial motorcycle rider, Onyechere Daniel Chinadu, after he arrived from Madagascar via Addis Ababa aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight.

A search of his checked backpack led to the recovery of 87 wraps of methamphetamine concealed inside clothing.

During interrogation, Chinadu said he had worked as an “Okada” rider in the Oke-Afa area of Lagos for about 15 years before a Uganda-based associate recruited him into international drug trafficking.

He further disclosed that he swallowed additional pellets of methamphetamine in Uganda before embarking on the trip to Madagascar, where he was expected to deliver the narcotics.

According to him, he was denied entry into Madagascar by immigration authorities, prompting his sponsor, identified as Ozor Igo, based in Uganda, to reroute him to Lagos, where NDLEA operatives intercepted him.

Unable to state the exact number of drug pellets he had ingested, the suspect was placed under excretion observation for three days. Between his arrest and July 1, he excreted 13 additional pellets, bringing the total recovery to 100 wraps of methamphetamine weighing 1.715 kilograms.

At the Apapa Seaport in Lagos, NDLEA also recorded one of its biggest cannabis seizures this year after operatives intercepted a container loaded with 8,287 nylon bags of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, weighing 4,143.5 kilograms with an estimated street value of over ₦10.3 billion.

The seizure followed weeks of intelligence-led surveillance and monitoring by the agency’s Maritime Intelligence Unit, working in collaboration with the Apapa Strategic Command, from the shipment’s point of departure in Montreal, Canada, until its arrival in Nigeria.

The container was jointly examined on Friday, July 10, by NDLEA personnel, the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies before the illicit consignment was uncovered.

In a related operation, operatives of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) foiled 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 anti-narcotics agency said it sustained its nationwide War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign with sensitisation programmes conducted in schools, communities, workplaces and religious centres across the country.

Among the institutions visited during the week were Nnodo Secondary School in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State; Government Girls Secondary School, Sabon Gida, Sharada, Kano State; Royal Jesuit College, Agbado Ekiti; and Community Secondary School, Idofa, Ogun State.

The agency also disclosed that the leadership of its Zone 14 Command paid an advocacy visit to Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, at the Government House in Port Harcourt as part of efforts to strengthen public support for anti-drug campaigns.

Commending officers attached to the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation, the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Maritime Intelligence Unit and Apapa Commands, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), praised their sustained operational successes.

Marwa said the agency’s aggressive drug supply reduction efforts must continue alongside its nationwide preventive education campaign under the War Against Drug Abuse initiative, urging officers across the country not to relent in the fight against illicit drug trafficking and abuse.