NDLEA Arrests South African Woman With 5.75kg Heroin At Abuja Airport

A 38-year-old South African woman has been arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, after anti-drug officers said they found 5.75 kilogrammes of heroin in luggage linked to her.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency named the suspect as Will Jessica Ann and said she arrived on Qatar Airways flight QR1433 from Doha. The agency said the arrest happened on Monday, July 6, during inward clearance at the airport.

Officials said the woman initially denied travelling with checked-in luggage, but two bags containing 14 large blocks of heroin carried baggage tags that matched claim tags attached to her passport. She later admitted the bags were hers, the agency said.

NDLEA also said she travelled from Cambodia through Doha to Abuja and was allegedly linked to a trafficking network operating along the Cambodia-South Africa route. The agency said she used her three-year-old son as cover while trying to avoid closer checks.

The same statement listed other recent seizures, including a Lagos airport case in which a commercial motorcycle rider allegedly excreted additional methamphetamine pellets after officers recovered wraps of the drug from his backpack.

At Apapa seaport, NDLEA said officers working with Customs and other security agencies intercepted 4,143.5 kilogrammes of Canadian Loud, a strain of cannabis, with an estimated street value of more than N10.3 billion.

Sources: Vanguard, Channels TV