NDLEA Nabs South African Woman Using Toddler as Cover for Heroin Smuggling

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a South African woman who allegedly attempted to smuggle 5.75 kilogrammes of heroin into Nigeria by travelling with her three-year-old son to avoid suspicion.

The agency also said it intercepted an alleged drug courier who excreted 100 wraps of methamphetamine after arriving at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, while officers seized cannabis popularly known as “Canadian Loud” valued at more than N10.3 billion at the Apapa Seaport.

The anti-narcotics agency disclosed the arrests and seizures in a statement issued on Sunday by its Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi.

According to the statement, the South African suspect, identified as 38-year-old Ms. Will Jessica Ann, was arrested on Monday, July 6, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, during the inward clearance of passengers on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha.

NDLEA said the suspect initially denied travelling with any checked luggage but later admitted ownership of two suitcases after officers matched the baggage claim tags attached to her passport with those on the bags.

A search of the luggage reportedly led to the recovery of 14 large blocks of heroin weighing 5.75 kilogrammes.

The agency alleged that the suspect travelled from Cambodia through Doha to Abuja and used her three-year-old son as a cover in an attempt to beat security checks.

Babafemi said intelligence gathered by the agency indicated that the suspect was part of a transnational drug trafficking syndicate allegedly operating between Cambodia and South Africa alongside her husband or partner, identified as Jan Coenraad De Jager.

In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives at the MMIA Terminal 2 in Lagos arrested a 48-year-old commercial motorcycle rider, Onyechere Daniel Chinadu, after he arrived from Madagascar via Addis Ababa on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.

The agency said a search of his backpack uncovered 87 wraps of methamphetamine concealed inside clothing.

During interrogation, the suspect allegedly confessed that he had worked as an okada rider in the Oke-Afa area of Lagos for 15 years before a friend based in Uganda introduced him to drug trafficking.

According to the NDLEA, the suspect told investigators he swallowed additional pellets of methamphetamine in Uganda before embarking on a journey to Madagascar to deliver the illicit consignment.

However, he was reportedly denied entry into Madagascar by immigration authorities and was rerouted to Lagos by his alleged sponsor, identified as Ozor Igo, where he was arrested on arrival.

Because the suspect could not state the exact number of pellets he had ingested, NDLEA said he was placed under medical observation for three days.

“Between the date of his arrest and July 1, he excreted 13 pellets in addition to the initial 87 wraps recovered from him, bringing the total number to 100 wraps of methamphetamine with a gross weight of 1.715 kilogrammes,” the agency stated.

At the Apapa Seaport in Lagos, NDLEA said operatives, working alongside officers of the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies, intercepted 8,287 nylon bags of Canadian Loud weighing 4,143.5 kilogrammes.

The agency estimated the street value of the consignment at more than N10.3 billion.

Babafemi said the illicit shipment was concealed in a container imported from Canada and was intercepted during a joint examination on Friday, July 10, following weeks of intelligence-led monitoring by the agency’s Maritime Intelligence Unit from the point of departure in Montreal.

In another operation, NDLEA operatives of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) foiled an attempt to export 2.5 kilogrammes of skunk concealed inside a gas compressor destined for Cyprus through a Lagos courier company.

Beyond enforcement activities, the agency said it sustained its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign with sensitisation programmes in schools, workplaces, communities and places of worship across the country.

The outreach, according to the statement, included awareness lectures for students and staff of Nnodo Secondary School in Ebonyi State, Government Girls Secondary School, Sabon Gida, Sharada in Kano State, Royal Jesuit College in Agbado Ekiti, and Community Secondary School in Idofa, Ogun State.

It added that the leadership of NDLEA Zone 14 Command also paid an advocacy visit to Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, at the Government House in Port Harcourt.

Commending officers involved in the latest operations, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), praised personnel of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation, the MMIA and NAIA Commands, the Maritime Intelligence Unit and the Apapa Command.

Marwa said the agency’s success in reducing the supply of illicit drugs was being matched with sustained public enlightenment under the War Against Drug Abuse campaign.

He urged officers across the country to remain committed to the agency’s mandate and “not to rest on their past laurels.”l