.. says she used son as cover
By Kingsley Omonobi
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 38-year-old South African woman, Ms. Will Jessica Ann, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, for allegedly attempting to smuggle 5.75 kilogrammes of heroin into Nigeria while using her three-year-old son as cover.
According to the agency, the suspect was arrested on Monday, July 6, 2026, during the inward clearance of passengers on Qatar Airways flight QR1433 from Doha to Abuja.
NDLEA said the suspect initially denied travelling with any checked-in luggage. However, operatives established that two bags containing 14 large blocks of heroin bore baggage tags that matched the claim tags attached to her passport.
The agency said the woman subsequently admitted ownership of the bags, claiming she had forgotten that she checked them in.
She reportedly told investigators she travelled from Cambodia through Doha to Abuja.
NDLEA said intelligence reports indicate that the suspect is a member of a transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating along the Cambodia-South Africa axis with her husband and alleged accomplice, Jan Coenraad De Jager.
The agency disclosed that the arrest was one of several major operations carried out by its operatives across the country in recent days.
It said officers at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, also intercepted a 48-year-old commercial motorcyclist, Onyechere Daniel Chinadufor, after he arrived from Madagascar via Addis Ababa aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
According to NDLEA, a search of his backpack led to the recovery of 87 wraps of methamphetamine concealed in clothing, while he later excreted 13 additional pellets after being placed under observation, bringing the total to 100 wraps weighing 1.715 kilogrammes.
The suspect allegedly told investigators he had worked as an okada rider in Lagos for 15 years before being recruited into drug trafficking by a Uganda-based associate.
In another operation, NDLEA said its operatives, working with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies, intercepted 8,287 nylon bags of “Canadian Loud,” a strong strain of cannabis, weighing 4,143.5 kilogrammes and valued at more than ₦10.3 billion during a joint examination of a container imported from Canada at the Apapa Seaport, Lagos.
The agency said the seizure followed weeks of intelligence gathering and surveillance by its Maritime Intelligence Unit from the point of shipment in Montreal, Canada.
NDLEA also foiled an attempt to export 2.5 kilogrammes of skunk concealed inside a gas compressor destined for Cyprus through a Lagos-based courier company.
The agency added that its commands nationwide sustained their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaign with awareness programmes in schools, worship centres and communities across several states.
Commending officers involved in the operations, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), praised the agency’s commands for combining drug supply reduction efforts with public sensitisation and urged them to remain steadfast in the fight against illicit drug trafficking.
