“NDLEA Arrests South African Woman With 5.75kg Heroin” — Seizes ₦10.3bn Canadian Loud, Stops Meth, Skunk Trafficking In Lagos

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a 38-year-old South African woman, Will Jessica Ann, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, for allegedly attempting to smuggle 5.75 kilograms of heroin into Nigeria while travelling with her three-year-old son.

The agency said the suspect was arrested on Monday, July 6, 2026, during the inward clearance of passengers on Qatar Airways Flight QR1433 from Doha.

In a statement issued on Sunday by NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the agency said the suspect allegedly concealed 14 large blocks of heroin in two suitcases.

According to NDLEA, Ann initially denied travelling with any checked-in luggage. However, operatives reportedly established that the baggage tags on the two suitcases matched the claim tags attached to her passport.

The agency said the suspect later admitted ownership of the bags, claiming she had forgotten that she checked them in.

“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.

NDLEA said the suspect claimed she travelled from Cambodia through Doha to Abuja.

The agency further alleged that intelligence linked her to a transnational drug trafficking organisation operating along the Cambodia-South Africa route with her husband and partner, Jan Coenraad De Jager.

In another operation, NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, arrested a 48-year-old commercial motorcycle rider, Onyechere Chinadu, who arrived from Madagascar through Addis Ababa on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.

The agency said an initial search of his backpack led to the discovery of 87 wraps of methamphetamine concealed in clothing.

According to NDLEA, Chinadu confessed that he had worked as an okada rider in Lagos for 15 years before he was allegedly recruited into drug trafficking by a Uganda-based associate.

The agency said the suspect claimed he ingested pellets of methamphetamine in Uganda before travelling to Madagascar to deliver the consignment.

However, after he was denied entry into Madagascar, his sponsor allegedly rerouted him to Lagos, where he was arrested.

At the Apapa Seaport in Lagos, NDLEA said its operatives intercepted 8,287 bags of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, weighing 4,143.5 kilograms, with an estimated street value of more than ₦10.3 billion.

At the Apapa Seaport in Lagos, NDLEA said its operatives intercepted 8,287 bags of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, weighing 4,143.5 kilograms, with an estimated street value of more than ₦10.3 billion.

The agency said the consignment was discovered during a joint examination involving NDLEA officers, the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies.

According to the statement, the seizure followed weeks of targeted tracking and surveillance by the Maritime Intelligence Unit of NDLEA in collaboration with the Apapa Strategic Command, after the shipment departed Montreal, Canada.

NDLEA also said its operatives foiled an attempt to export 2.5 kilograms of skunk concealed in a gas compressor and destined for Cyprus through a Lagos-based courier company.

The agency added that its commands across the country continued the War Against Drug Abuse campaign with sensitisation lectures in secondary schools in Ebonyi, Kano, Ekiti and Ogun states.

It also said the leadership of its Zone 14 Command paid an advocacy visit to the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, as part of efforts to strengthen public awareness against drug abuse.