NDLEA Arrests S/African Woman With 5.75kg Heroin at Abuja Airport

NDLEA Arrests S/African Woman With 5.75kg Heroin at Abuja Airport
Seizes ₦10.3bn Drugs
Recovers Heroin, Meth, Cannabis Worth Billions

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 38-year-old South African woman at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, after allegedly discovering 5.75 kilogrammes of heroin concealed in her luggage.

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Eko Hot Blog reports that the agency also announced a series of major drug interceptions across the country, including the seizure of illicit drugs valued at over ₦10.3 billion.

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In a statement issued on Sunday, NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi said the South African suspect was arrested on July 6 during the arrival clearance of passengers on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha.

According to the agency, the suspect arrived with her three-year-old son and initially denied travelling with any checked baggage.

However, operatives matched baggage claim tags attached to her passport with two suitcases that were later found to contain 14 parcels of heroin weighing 5.75 kilogrammes.

Babafemi said the suspect subsequently admitted ownership of the luggage after investigators confronted her with the evidence.

The NDLEA said the woman told investigators she travelled from Cambodia through Doha to Abuja, adding that preliminary intelligence linked her to a transnational drug trafficking network allegedly operating between Cambodia and South Africa.

In a separate operation at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, NDLEA operatives arrested a 48-year-old Nigerian who arrived from Madagascar via Addis Ababa on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.

The agency said officers initially recovered 87 wraps of methamphetamine concealed in his luggage before the suspect later excreted 13 additional pellets, bringing the total recovery to 100 wraps weighing 1.715 kilogrammes.

NDLEA Arrests S/African Woman With 5.75kg Heroin at Abuja Airport

During interrogation, the suspect reportedly disclosed that he previously worked as a commercial motorcycle rider in Lagos before he was recruited by an associate based in Uganda to traffic illicit drugs.

He allegedly ingested part of the drug consignment in Uganda before travelling to Madagascar, where he was denied entry and redirected to Nigeria, leading to his arrest.

In another major operation, NDLEA said it intercepted 8,287 bags of Canadian Loud, a potent synthetic cannabis strain, weighing 4,143.5 kilogrammes at the Apapa Seaport in Lagos.

The agency said the drugs, with an estimated street value of over ₦10.3 billion, were uncovered during a joint inspection involving the NDLEA, the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies after weeks of surveillance on a container shipped from Montreal, Canada.

The anti-narcotics agency also disclosed that it foiled an attempt to export 2.5 kilogrammes of skunk concealed inside a gas compressor destined for Cyprus through a Lagos-based courier company.

Beyond enforcement operations, the NDLEA said it continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaign in schools across Ebonyi, Kano, Ekiti and Ogun states as part of efforts to curb drug abuse through public education.

NDLEA Chairman, Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers involved in the operations and urged commands nationwide to sustain the momentum in drug enforcement and preventive education.