Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 38-year-old South African woman at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, after allegedly attempting to smuggle 5.75 kilograms of heroin into Nigeria.
The agency said the suspect allegedly used her three-year-old son as a cover in a bid to evade security checks and avoid thorough screening.
According to a statement issued on Sunday, the woman was arrested on Monday, July 6, during the inward clearance of passengers on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha.
The NDLEA said the suspect initially denied travelling with any checked luggage, but officers later established that two suitcases containing the illicit drugs bore baggage tags matching those attached to her passport.
“She eventually admitted ownership of the bags after claiming she had forgotten that she checked them in,” the agency said.
The NDLEA said the suspect told investigators she travelled from Cambodia through Doha to Abuja. Preliminary intelligence, it added, linked her to a transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating along the Cambodia–South Africa route.
In a separate operation at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, NDLEA operatives arrested a 48-year-old commercial motorcycle rider after he arrived from Madagascar via Addis Ababa on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
A search of his checked backpack led to the recovery of 87 wraps of methamphetamine concealed inside clothing.
According to the agency, the suspect confessed that he had worked as a commercial motorcycle rider in Lagos for about 15 years before being recruited into drug trafficking by an associate based in Uganda.
He also admitted swallowing additional pellets of methamphetamine before travelling to Madagascar to deliver the consignment but was denied entry by immigration authorities on arrival.
The NDLEA said he was subsequently deported to Lagos, where he was arrested.
Unable to state the exact number of pellets he had ingested, the suspect was placed under excretion observation for three days, during which he expelled 13 additional pellets. The total seizure rose to 100 wraps of methamphetamine weighing 1.715 kilograms.
At the Apapa Seaport in Lagos, NDLEA operatives, working with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies, intercepted a container loaded with 8,287 nylon bags of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, weighing 4,143.5 kilograms.
The agency estimated the street value of the seizure at more than ₦10.3 billion.
According to the NDLEA, the drugs were uncovered during a joint examination of a container imported from Canada after weeks of intelligence-led surveillance by its Maritime Intelligence Unit.
In another operation, operatives foiled an attempt to export 2.5 kilograms of skunk concealed inside a gas compressor destined for Cyprus through a Lagos-based courier company.
Beyond its enforcement operations, the agency said it continued its nationwide War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign with sensitisation programmes held in schools, communities, workplaces and places of worship across several states, including Ebonyi, Kano, Ekiti and Ogun.
The campaign also featured advocacy visits to government officials as part of efforts to strengthen public awareness of the dangers of drug abuse.
The NDLEA commended officers involved in the operations for the arrests and seizures and urged personnel across its commands to sustain the momentum in drug supply reduction and public enlightenment campaigns.
