NDLEA Intercepts ₦10bn Drug Shipment, Arrests Foreign Suspects

(South African woman. Photo by Vaned Online)

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have arrested a 38-year-old South African woman at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, after discovering 5.75 kilograms of heroin concealed in her luggage.

The agency said the suspect allegedly used her three-year-old son as cover in an attempt to beat security checks and evade thorough screening.

According to a statement issued on Sunday by the NDLEA, the suspect was arrested on Monday, July 6, during the inward clearance of passengers on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Abuja.

The agency said the woman initially denied travelling with any checked luggage, but officers established that two bags containing the illicit drugs bore baggage tags matching those attached to her passport. She eventually admitted ownership of the bags after claiming she had forgotten she had checked them in.

The NDLEA added that the suspect told investigators she had travelled from Cambodia through Doha to Abuja, and that intelligence gathered during the investigation suggests she is allegedly linked to a transnational drug tr@fficking network operating along the Cambodia–South Africa route.

In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, 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 tr@fficking 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 was subsequently 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.

The agency estimated the street value of the seized consignment at over ₦10.3 billion.

The drugs were discovered during a joint examination of a container imported from Canada, following weeks of intelligence-led tracking by the agency’s Maritime Intelligence Unit.

In another operation, NDLEA operatives 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 campaign, with sensitisation programmes held in schools, communities, workplaces and places of worship across several states, including Ebonyi, Kano, Ekiti and Ogun.

The campaign also featured advocacy visits to government officials as part of efforts to strengthen public awareness on the dangers of drug abuse.

The NDLEA 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.