NDLEA Busts International Drug Syndicates, Arrests South African Woman with Heroin, Seizes ₦10.3bn Cannabis Shipment

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have dismantled multiple drug trafficking operations across the country, arresting a South African woman with heroin at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, intercepting an alleged drug courier at the Lagos airport, and seizing illicit drugs worth over ₦10.3 billion at the Apapa Seaport.

The agency said the coordinated operations dealt a major blow to transnational drug trafficking networks operating through Nigeria.

NDLEA said a 38-year-old South African national, Will Jessica Ann, was arrested at the Abuja airport after operatives discovered 14 large blocks of heroin concealed in her luggage.

According to the agency, the suspect allegedly attempted to evade security checks by travelling with her three-year-old son to avoid suspicion.

Investigators said she initially denied travelling with checked baggage but later admitted ownership after officers matched the baggage tags with the claim tags attached to her passport.

Preliminary investigations, NDLEA said, linked the suspect to a transnational drug trafficking syndicate allegedly operated with her husband and partner, Jan Coenraad De Jager, who is reportedly based in Cambodia and coordinates drug trafficking activities along the Cambodia-South Africa route.

In a separate operation at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, NDLEA arrested a 48-year-old commercial motorcycle rider, Onyechere Daniel Chinadu, after his arrival from Madagascar.

A search of his luggage led to the recovery of 87 wraps of methamphetamine hidden inside clothing.

The suspect later excreted 13 additional pellets of the illicit drug while in custody, bringing the total number recovered to 100 wraps of methamphetamine.

According to NDLEA, the suspect confessed that he had worked as an okada rider in the Oke-Afa area of Lagos for 15 years before he was recruited into drug trafficking by a friend based in Uganda.

He told investigators that he ingested part of the drug consignment in Uganda before travelling to Madagascar but was denied entry by immigration authorities. His alleged sponsor subsequently rerouted him to Lagos, where he was arrested upon arrival.

In another major operation, NDLEA officers, working with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies, intercepted more than 8,000 nylon bags of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, concealed in a container imported from Canada through the Apapa Seaport in Lagos.

The agency estimated the street value of the seizure at over ₦10.3 billion, describing it as one of the largest cannabis interceptions in recent months.

NDLEA said the seizure followed weeks of intelligence gathering, tracking and surveillance of the shipment from Montreal, Canada, before it arrived in Nigeria.

The anti-narcotics agency also disclosed that its operatives thwarted an attempt to export 2.5 kilograms of skunk concealed inside a gas compressor destined for Cyprus through a courier company in Lagos.

The agency reiterated its commitment to intensifying intelligence-led operations to disrupt drug trafficking networks and prevent Nigeria from being used as a transit hub for illicit narcotics.