…Agency arrests South African woman for alleged heroin trafficking with son as cover
By Kingsley Omonobi
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted a 48-year-old commercial motorcycle rider, Onyechere Daniel Chinadufor, for allegedly ingesting 100 wraps of methamphetamine following his arrival at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
The suspect was arrested at the Terminal 2 Arrival Hall of the airport after arriving from Madagascar through Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on board an Ethiopian Airways flight.
NDLEA said a search of his checked-in backpack led to the discovery of 87 wraps of methamphetamine concealed among his clothes.
According to the agency, Chinadufor, in his statement, claimed he had worked as an okada rider for 15 years in the Oke-Afo area of Lagos before he was recruited into drug trafficking by a friend based in Uganda.
The suspect allegedly said he ingested the recovered pellets in Uganda before travelling to Madagascar to deliver the consignment but was denied entry by immigration authorities upon arrival.
He was subsequently rerouted to Lagos, where he was arrested by NDLEA operatives.
The agency said because the suspect could not state the exact number of pellets he had ingested, he was placed under observation for three days, during which he excreted an additional 13 wraps, bringing the total number recovered to 100 wraps weighing 1.715 kilogrammes.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives have intercepted 8,287 nylon bags of Canadian Loud, a strain of cannabis, weighing 4,143.5 kilogrammes and valued at over N10.3 billion in street value at the Apapa Port, Lagos.
The agency said the drugs were discovered in a container imported from Canada during a joint examination involving NDLEA officers, Nigeria Customs Service personnel and other security agencies on July 10, 2026.
It said the seizure followed weeks of monitoring by operatives of the Maritime Intelligence Unit in collaboration with the Apapa Strategic Command after the shipment departed Montreal, Canada.
In another operation, NDLEA operatives thwarted an attempt to export 2.5 kilogrammes of skunk, concealed inside a gas compressor, to Cyprus through a courier company in Lagos.
The agency also announced the arrest of a 38-year-old South African woman, Ms Will Jessica Ann, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, for allegedly trafficking 5.75 kilogrammes of heroin concealed in her luggage.
NDLEA said the suspect was arrested on July 6, 2026, during the inward clearance of passengers on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Abuja.
According to the agency, the suspect initially denied travelling with checked-in luggage but later admitted ownership after operatives established that the bags containing the drugs had tags matching the claim tags attached to her passport.
NDLEA alleged that the suspect travelled from Cambodia through Doha to Abuja and that intelligence indicated she was part of a transnational drug trafficking network operating along the Cambodia-South Africa route with her husband/partner, Jan Coenraad De Jager.
The agency also said its commands and formations across the country continued public sensitisation activities under its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) initiative in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities.
The activities included awareness campaigns in schools in Ebonyi, Kano, Ekiti and Ogun states, as well as a WADA advocacy visit by the Zone 14 Command to Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, at the Government House, Port Harcourt.
Commending the officers and men of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI), MMIA, NAIA, Maritime Intelligence Unit and Apapa Commands, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), praised their efforts in reducing drug supply and expanding public awareness campaigns. He urged them to sustain the momentum and remain committed to the fight against illicit drug trafficking and abuse.
