Three-Year-Old at Centre of Alleged Heroin Smuggling Attempt as NDLEA Makes Multiple Arrests

By Omoyeni Ojeifo

A three-year-old boy was put at serious risk when his South African mother allegedly used him as a shield to smuggle heroin into Nigeria.

The interception is part of a series of major operations detailed on Sunday by Femi Babafemi, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency’s (NDLEA) Director of Media and Advocacy, in an email to Persecondnews.

Operatives arrested 38-year-old Will Jessica Ann at Abuja’s Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) after discovering 14 large blocks of heroin, weighing 5.75 kilograms, in her possession.

She concealed the illegal substance in two checked suitcases while travelling with her three-year-old son, allegedly using the child as a cover to beat security checks and evade thorough screening.

According to the agency, the suspect was apprehended on Monday, July 6, 2026, during the inward clearance of passengers arriving aboard Qatar Airways flight QR1433 from Doha to Abuja.

The agency said Ann initially denied travelling with any checked luggage.

However, NDLEA officers established that the two suitcases containing the drugs bore baggage tags that matched the claim tags attached to her passport.

Confronted with the evidence, she admitted ownership of the luggage, explaining that she had forgotten she checked in the two bags.

The agency said the suspect claimed she travelled from Cambodia through Doha to Abuja.

It added that intelligence leading to her arrest indicated that Jessica Ann was linked to a transnational drug trafficking organisation allegedly operated with her husband and partner, Jan Coenraad De Jager, from Cambodia along the Cambodian-South African axis.

Another breakthrough came at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, where NDLEA operatives arrested 48-year-old Onyechere Daniel Chinadu on Sunday, June 28, 2026, after he arrived from Madagascar via Addis Ababa aboard an Ethiopian Airways flight.

A detailed search of the backpack he had checked in led to the recovery of 87 wraps of methamphetamine concealed inside clothing.

During questioning, Onyechere said he had spent the last 15 years working as an Okada rider in the Oke-Afo area of Lagos before an Uganda-based friend introduced him to drug trafficking.

He also admitted swallowing methamphetamine pellets in Uganda before setting out for Madagascar to deliver the illicit consignment.

However, the agency said he was denied entry into Madagascar by immigration authorities.

His sponsor, identified as Ozor Igo and based in Uganda, reportedly redirected his journey to Lagos, where NDLEA operatives intercepted him.

Unable to state the number of pellets he had swallowed, investigators placed him under observation for three days.

Between the date of his arrest and July 1, he excreted 13 additional pellets, bringing the total recovery to 100 wraps of methamphetamine with a gross weight of 1.715 kilograms, including the 87 wraps recovered from his backpack.

At the Apapa Seaport in Lagos, NDLEA officers, working alongside personnel of the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies, intercepted 8,287 nylon bags of Canadian Loud cannabis weighing 4,143.5 kilograms, with an estimated street value of more than ₦10.3 billion.

The seizure was made during a joint examination of a container imported from Canada on Friday, July 10, 2026.

According to the agency, the interception followed weeks of intelligence gathering and surveillance by its Maritime Intelligence Unit, which tracked the shipment since its departure from Montreal, Canada, before collaborating with the Apapa Strategic Command.

In another operation, operatives of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) foiled an attempt to export 2.5 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis, concealed inside a gas compressor destined for Cyprus through a courier company in Lagos.

The agency also said its commands and formations across the country sustained the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign with sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities during the past week.

The awareness programmes included lectures for students and staff of 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 added that the leadership of its Zone 14 Command also paid a WADA advocacy visit to Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, at the Government House in Port Harcourt.

Retired Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA), commended officers and men of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI), MMIA, NAIA, Maritime Intelligence Unit (MIU) and Apapa Commands for the arrests and seizures.

Marwa noted that the agency’s drug supply reduction efforts had been balanced with sustained sensitisation activities under the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign.

He charged officers and personnel across the country not to rest on their past laurels but remain committed to disrupting drug trafficking networks and strengthening public awareness against substance abuse.