South African woman arrested with 5.75kg heroin after allegedly using three-year-old son as cover
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 48-year-old commercial motorcyclist who excreted 100 wraps of methamphetamine after arriving at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, while also intercepting a shipment of cannabis popularly known as “Canadian Loud” valued at more than N10.3 billion at the Apapa Seaport.
The agency said the suspect, Onyechere Daniel Chinadufor, was arrested at the Terminal 2 arrival hall of the airport after arriving from Madagascar via Addis Ababa on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
According to the NDLEA, a search of his checked backpack uncovered 87 wraps of methamphetamine hidden inside clothing.
During interrogation, Chinadufor told investigators he had worked as an Okada rider in the Oke-Afa area of Lagos for the past 15 years before he was allegedly recruited into drug trafficking by a friend based in Uganda.
He claimed he swallowed the drug pellets in Uganda before travelling to Madagascar to deliver the consignment. However, immigration authorities in Madagascar reportedly denied him entry, prompting his sponsor, identified as Ozor Igo, to reroute him to Lagos, where he was arrested on arrival.
Unable to state the exact number of pellets he had ingested, the suspect was placed under medical observation. Over a three-day period, he excreted an additional 13 pellets, bringing the total recovery to 100 wraps of methamphetamine weighing 1.715 kilograms.
In another major operation, NDLEA operatives, working with officers of the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies, intercepted 8,287 nylon bags of “Canadian Loud” weighing 4,143.5 kilograms during a joint examination of a container imported from Canada through the Apapa Seaport.
The seizure, with an estimated street value of over N10.3 billion, followed weeks of intelligence gathering and surveillance by the agency’s Maritime Intelligence Unit, which tracked the shipment from its point of departure in Montreal, Canada.
The agency also foiled an attempt to export 2.5 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis, concealed inside a gas compressor bound for Cyprus through a Lagos-based courier company. The operation was carried out by officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI).
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, arrested a 38-year-old South African woman, identified as Will Jessica Ann, after allegedly discovering 14 large blocks of heroin weighing 5.75 kilograms concealed in her luggage.
The agency alleged that the suspect travelled with her three-year-old son in an attempt to avoid close scrutiny during security screening.
She was arrested on July 6 during the inward clearance of passengers on Qatar Airways Flight QR1433 from Doha.
According to the NDLEA, the suspect initially denied travelling with any checked luggage. However, officers reportedly matched the baggage tags on two suitcases containing the illicit drugs with the claim tags attached to her passport. She subsequently admitted ownership of the bags, claiming she had forgotten she checked them in.
Investigators said she told them she travelled from Cambodia through Doha to Abuja.
The agency added that intelligence reports indicate she is allegedly part of a transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating between Cambodia and South Africa alongside her husband or partner, identified as Jan Coenraad De Jager.
Beyond enforcement operations, the NDLEA said it sustained its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign across the country, conducting sensitisation programmes in schools, workplaces, places of worship and communities.
Among the institutions visited were 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. The agency also paid an advocacy visit to the Rivers State Government as part of its anti-drug awareness campaign.
Commending officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation, the MMIA, NAIA, Maritime Intelligence Unit and Apapa Commands, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), praised their successes in reducing drug trafficking while sustaining public awareness campaigns against drug abuse.
He urged personnel across the country to remain committed to the agency’s mandate and build on the momentum recorded in recent operations.
