Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a South African woman, Ms. Will Jessica Ann following the discovery of 5.75 kilograms of heroin concealed in her luggage at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja.
Ann, 38, was arrested by NDLEA officers during the inward clearance of passengers on Qatar Airways Flight QR1433 from Doha to Abuja on Monday, July 6, 2026.
The Agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement made available to ThelensNG on Sunday.
Babafemi revealed that the suspect used her three-year-old son as a cover to beat security checks and evade thorough screening.
“Though she initially denied travelling with check-in bags, but 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 recounted and admitted ownership of the bags, adding that she forgot she checked in the two bags.
“She claimed to have travelled from Cambodia through Doha to Abuja. Intelligence leading to her arrests indicates she is a member of a transnational drug trafficking organization along with her husband/partner, Jan Coenraad De Jager, based in Cambodia from where they operate their drug network along the Cambodian-South African axis,” the statement said.
In another operation, NDLEA officers intercepted a commercial motorcycle operator, popularly known as an ‘okada’ rider, 48-year-old Onyechere Daniel Chinadu, at the Terminal 2 arrival hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, on June 28, 2026.
Chinadu was intercepted following his arrival from Madagascar via Addis Ababa aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
Babafemi disclosed that a thorough search of his backpack, which he had checked in, led to the discovery of 87 wraps of methamphetamine concealed among clothes in the bag.
In his statement, Chinadu claimed he had worked as an okada rider in the Oke-Afa area of Lagos for 15 years before his Uganda-based friend recruited him into drug trafficking.
He stated that he ingested the recovered pellets of methamphetamine in Uganda before embarking on his planned journey to Madagascar to deliver the drug consignment. However, upon arrival in Madagascar, he was denied entry by immigration authorities. Consequently, his friend and sponsor, Ozor Igo, who is based in Uganda, rerouted his flight to Lagos, where he was eventually arrested by NDLEA officers.
Babafemi revealed that the suspect was unable to state the exact number of pellets he had ingested in Uganda and, as a result, was placed under excretion observation for three days.
Between his arrest and July 1, he excreted 13 additional pellets, in addition to the initial 87 wraps recovered from him, bringing the total to 100 wraps of methamphetamine with a gross weight of 1.715 kilograms.
A total of 8,287 nylon bags of Canadian Loud, weighing 4,143.5 kilograms and with an estimated street value of over ₦10.3 billion, were discovered in a container imported from Canada during a joint examination of the shipment by NDLEA officers, Nigeria Customs Service personnel and other security agencies at the Apapa Seaport in Lagos on Friday, July 10, 2026.
The spokesperson revealed that 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 (MIU) of the NDLEA in close collaboration with the Agency’s Apapa Strategic Command.
Similarly, an attempt to export 2.5 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis, concealed inside a gas compressor destined for Cyprus through a courier company in Lagos was thwarted by NDLEA operatives of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI).
The Agency’s Commands and formations across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces, communities, and other locations during the past week.
The activities included WADA enlightenment lectures for students and staff of Nnodo Secondary School, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State; Government Girls Secondary School, Sabon Gida, Sharada, Kano State; Royal Jesuit College, Agbado-Ekiti, Ekiti State; and Community Secondary School, Idofa, Ogun State. The leadership of the NDLEA Zone 14 Command also paid a WADA advocacy visit to Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, at the Government House in Port Harcourt.
Commenting on the arrests and seizures, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), commended officers of the DOGI, MMIA, NAIA, MIU, and Apapa Commands for their professionalism and commitment.
Marwa noted that their drug supply reduction efforts were well balanced with WADA sensitisation activities and urged them, as well as their counterparts across the country, not to rest on their laurels.
