Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 38-year-old South African woman at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja for allegedly attempting to smuggle 5.75 kilograms of heroin into Nigeria while using her three-year-old son as cover to beat security checks and evade thorough screening. The suspect, identified as Will Jessica Ann, was apprehended on Monday, July 6, 2026, during the inward clearance of passengers on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by the NDLEA's Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the suspect concealed 14 large blocks of heroin weighing 5.75 kilograms in two checked bags and travelled with her young son in what the agency described as a deliberate attempt to avoid suspicion and circumvent security protocols. The suspect initially denied travelling with any checked-in luggage, but operatives established that the baggage tags on the two suitcases containing the drugs matched the claim tags attached to her passport. Confronted with the evidence, she recanted and admitted ownership of the bags, claiming she had forgotten she checked them in.
The NDLEA further disclosed that the suspect told investigators she had travelled from Cambodia through Doha to Abuja. Intelligence gathered during the investigation indicates she is allegedly linked to a transnational drug trafficking network operating along the Cambodia-South Africa route, with her husband and alleged accomplice, identified as Jan Coenraad De Jager. The agency said preliminary intelligence links her to a syndicate she allegedly runs with her husband from Cambodia along the same trafficking corridor.
The arrest at Abuja airport was one of several major operations carried out by the NDLEA across the country in recent days. In a separate operation at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, operatives arrested a 48-year-old commercial motorcycle rider following his arrival 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. According to the agency, the suspect admitted he had worked as a commercial motorcycle rider in Lagos for about 15 years before being recruited into drug trafficking by an associate based in Uganda. He further disclosed that he had swallowed additional pellets of methamphetamine before embarking on a planned trip to Madagascar to deliver the consignment but was denied entry by immigration authorities on arrival and rerouted to Lagos, where he was arrested. Unable to state the number of pellets he had ingested, the suspect was placed under excretion observation for three days, during which he excreted 13 additional pellets, bringing the total seizure to 100 wraps of methamphetamine weighing 1.715 kilograms.
Meanwhile, at the Apapa Seaport in Lagos, NDLEA officers, working alongside personnel of the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies, intercepted a shipment containing 8,287 nylon bags of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, weighing 4,143.5 kilograms and valued at more than ₦10.3 billion. The drugs were discovered during a joint examination of a container imported from Canada after weeks of intelligence-led tracking by the agency's Maritime Intelligence Unit. In another operation, NDLEA operatives also 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 activities, the agency said it continued its nationwide War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign with sensitisation programmes held in schools, communities, workplaces, and places of worship across several states, including Ebonyi, Kano, Ekiti, and Ogun. NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers involved in the various operations for the arrests and seizures and urged personnel across its commands to sustain the momentum in both drug supply reduction and public enlightenment initiatives.
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