The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 38-year-old South African woman, Will Ann, for allegedly attempting to smuggle 5.75 kilograms of heroin into Nigeria through the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by the NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the suspect allegedly concealed 14 large blocks of heroin inside two suitcases.
The agency said she initially denied travelling with any checked-in luggage. However, officers matched the baggage tags to the claim tags attached to her passport, prompting her to admit ownership of the bags.
“Though she initially denied travelling with checked-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 had checked in the two bags,” the statement read.
The suspect was arrested on Monday, 6 July 2026, during the inward clearance of passengers arriving aboard Qatar Airways flight QR1433 from Doha. She was travelling with her three-year-old son.
NDLEA said the suspect claimed she travelled from Cambodia through Doha to Abuja.
The agency further disclosed that intelligence suggested she belonged to a transnational drug trafficking network operating along the Cambodia–South Africa route alongside her husband and partner, identified as Jan Coenraad De Jager.
Lagos airport arrest
In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, arrested a 48-year-old commercial motorcycle rider, Onyechere Chinadu, after he arrived from Madagascar via Addis Ababa on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
The agency said an initial search of his backpack uncovered 87 wraps of methamphetamine hidden inside clothing.
According to the statement, the suspect confessed that he had worked as an okada rider in Lagos for 15 years before being recruited into drug trafficking by an associate based in Uganda.
He allegedly admitted swallowing several pellets of methamphetamine in Uganda before embarking on the trip.
NDLEA said the suspect was placed under observation because he could not state the exact number of pellets ingested.
Between his arrest and 11 July, he reportedly excreted 13 additional pellets, bringing the total recovery to 100 wraps of methamphetamine weighing 1.715 kilograms.
Cannabis worth over N10.3bn intercepted
At the Apapa Seaport in Lagos, NDLEA said it intercepted 8,287 bags of Canadian Loud, a synthetic cannabis strain, weighing 4,143.5 kilograms with an estimated street value exceeding N10.3 billion.
The seizure was made during a joint examination involving NDLEA officers, the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies after weeks of surveillance on a container imported from Canada.
According to the agency, the shipment had been tracked from Montreal before arriving in Nigeria.
The anti-drug agency also disclosed that it prevented an attempt to export 2.5 kilograms of skunk concealed inside a gas compressor destined for Cyprus through a Lagos-based courier company.
NDLEA sustains anti-drug campaign
Beyond enforcement operations, NDLEA said it continued its War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation campaign through advocacy lectures in secondary schools across Ebonyi, Kano, Ekiti and Ogun states.
The agency also disclosed that its Zone 14 Command paid an advocacy visit to Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
Commending officers involved in the operations, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, retired Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa, praised the commands for combining aggressive drug enforcement with public awareness campaigns.
He urged officers nationwide not to relent in the fight against illicit drug trafficking and substance abuse.
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