NDLEA Busts South African Woman With 5.75kg Heroin, Son Allegedly Used As Cover

According to Ireporter Online, the suspect was apprehended by NDLEA operatives on Monday, July 6, 2026, during the inward clearance of passengers aboard Qatar Airways flight QR 1433 from Doha to Abuja.

The agency disclosed that the woman allegedly attempted to use her three-year-old son as a cover to avoid thorough security checks during her journey.

The NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, stated that the suspect initially denied travelling with checked luggage. However, after officers discovered that two bags containing the illicit substance had tags matching the claim tags linked to her passport, she admitted ownership and claimed she had forgotten checking in the bags.

Investigations revealed that the suspect had travelled from Cambodia through Doha to Abuja. Intelligence gathered by the agency indicated that she was allegedly connected to a transnational drug trafficking network operated along the Cambodia-South Africa route with her husband or partner, Jan Coenraad De Jager.

In a separate operation at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, NDLEA officers arrested a 48-year-old commercial motorcycle operator, Onyechere Daniel Chinadu, over the alleged smuggling of methamphetamine.

The suspect, popularly known as an “Okada rider,” was intercepted on June 28, 2026, after arriving from Madagascar through Addis Ababa aboard an Ethiopian Airways flight.

A search of his checked-in backpack led to the discovery of 87 wraps of methamphetamine hidden among his clothes. During questioning, Chinadu reportedly claimed he had worked as a motorcycle operator in Lagos for 15 years before being introduced into drug trafficking by a friend based in Uganda.

He allegedly revealed that he ingested drug pellets in Uganda before travelling to Madagascar to deliver the consignment but was denied entry by immigration authorities upon arrival. His journey was later redirected to Lagos, where NDLEA operatives arrested him.

The agency said the suspect was placed under observation after he could not provide the exact number of pellets he had ingested. Following three days of monitoring, he excreted an additional 13 wraps, bringing the total number of recovered methamphetamine wraps to 100, with a combined weight of 1.715 kilograms.

Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives, in collaboration with Customs officials and other security agencies, intercepted a massive shipment of illicit substances at the Apapa seaport in Lagos.

According to the agency, 8,287 nylon bags of Canadian Loud, weighing 4,143.5 kilograms and estimated at over N10.3 billion in street value, were discovered inside a container imported from Canada.

The seizure followed weeks of intelligence gathering and monitoring by the NDLEA Maritime Intelligence Unit and Apapa Strategic Command after the shipment departed Montreal, Canada.

In another operation, the agency also foiled an attempt to export 2.5 kilograms of skunk, a cannabis strain, concealed inside a gas compressor being shipped to Cyprus through a courier company in Lagos.

The NDLEA said its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign also continued nationwide, with sensitisation programmes held in schools, religious centres, workplaces and communities.

The agency highlighted awareness activities carried out in institutions including Nnodo Secondary School, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State; Government Girls Secondary School, Sabon Gida, Sharada, Kano State; Royal Jesuit College, Agbado Ekiti; and Community Secondary School, Idofa, Ogun State.

According to Ireporter Online, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended officers from the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation, MMIA, NAIA, Maritime Intelligence Unit, and Apapa Commands for their efforts in reducing drug supply across the country.

Marwa urged personnel of the agency to remain committed to the fight against illicit drug trafficking while sustaining public awareness campaigns aimed at preventing drug abuse.