…Seizes N10.3bn Drugs in Major Raids
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 38-year-old South African woman at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, over an alleged attempt to smuggle 5.75 kilogrammes of heroin into Nigeria while travelling with her three-year-old son.
The suspect, identified as Will Jessica Ann, was apprehended on Monday, July 6, during the clearance of passengers arriving aboard Qatar Airways Flight QR1433 from Doha, according to the agency.
In a statement issued on Sunday, NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said operatives recovered 14 large parcels of heroin concealed inside two suitcases linked to the suspect.
Babafemi said the woman initially denied checking in any luggage. However, further investigation revealed that the baggage tags on the suitcases matched the claim tags attached to her passport, forcing her to acknowledge ownership of the bags.
She reportedly claimed she had forgotten she checked in the luggage and told investigators she travelled from Cambodia to Abuja through Doha.
The anti-drug agency further disclosed that preliminary intelligence suggested the suspect belonged to an international drug trafficking syndicate operating between Cambodia and South Africa alongside her husband and alleged accomplice, Jan Coenraad De Jager.
In a separate operation at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, NDLEA operatives arrested a 48-year-old commercial motorcycle rider, Onyechere Chinadu, shortly after he arrived from Madagascar via Addis Ababa on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
According to the agency, officers initially discovered 87 wraps of methamphetamine concealed in clothing packed inside his backpack.
The suspect allegedly confessed that he had spent 15 years as an okada rider in Lagos before he was recruited into drug trafficking by an associate based in Uganda.
Investigators said he admitted swallowing additional pellets of methamphetamine in Uganda before embarking on the trip to Madagascar to deliver the illicit consignment.
After he was reportedly denied entry into Madagascar, his sponsors redirected him to Lagos, where he was intercepted by NDLEA operatives.
Because he could not state the exact number of pellets he had ingested, officials placed him under medical observation. Between the time of his arrest and July 11, he excreted 13 more pellets, increasing the total seizure to 100 wraps of methamphetamine weighing 1.715 kilogrammes.
Meanwhile, at the Apapa Seaport in Lagos, NDLEA announced the interception of 8,287 bags of “Canadian Loud,” a potent strain of synthetic cannabis, weighing 4,143.5 kilogrammes with an estimated street value exceeding N10.3 billion.
The agency said the illicit consignment was uncovered during a joint inspection involving NDLEA, the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies after weeks of intelligence-led surveillance on a container imported from Canada.
Babafemi explained that the operation followed extensive monitoring of the shipment from its point of departure in Montreal by the agency’s Maritime Intelligence Unit working with the Apapa Strategic Command.
In another operation, NDLEA operatives also thwarted an attempt to export 2.5 kilogrammes of skunk concealed inside a gas compressor through a Lagos-based courier company. The shipment was reportedly destined for Cyprus.
Beyond enforcement activities, the agency said it continued its War Against Drug Abuse awareness campaign through sensitisation programmes held in secondary schools across Ebonyi, Kano, Ekiti and Ogun states. It added that the leadership of its Zone 14 Command also paid an advocacy visit to the Rivers State Government.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Retired Brigadier General Buba Marwa, commended officers involved in the operations, describing the seizures as a reflection of the agency’s sustained offensive against drug trafficking networks.
He also urged personnel nationwide to remain committed to disrupting illicit drug supply while intensifying public enlightenment efforts aimed at reducing drug abuse across the country.
Source: Verity News
