By Seyi Odewale
A 38-year-old South African woman who allegedly used her three-year-old son as cover to evade security checks is among the suspects arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in a series of operations that led to the seizure of illicit drugs worth more than ₦10.3 billion.
The anti-narcotics agency said the operations, conducted across airports, seaports and logistics facilities, dealt a major blow to international trafficking syndicates using Nigeria as a transit and destination hub.
The South African suspect was arrested during inward passenger clearance at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja after arriving on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha.
Investigations revealed that she travelled from Cambodia through Doha before arriving in Nigeria.
According to the NDLEA, she initially denied travelling with any checked luggage despite arriving with her young child.
Further examination, however, revealed that two bags containing 5.75 kilograms of heroin carried baggage tags corresponding with those attached to her passport.
“She initially denied travelling with any checked luggage but later admitted ownership of the bags after claiming she had forgotten she checked them in,” the agency said.
The NDLEA disclosed that intelligence gathered during investigations linked the suspect to a transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating along the Cambodia-South Africa route.
In another operation at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, operatives arrested a 48-year-old commercial motorcycle operator who arrived from Madagascar via Addis Ababa aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
A search of his backpack led to the discovery of 87 wraps of methamphetamine concealed inside clothing.
The suspect reportedly confessed to being recruited into drug trafficking by an associate based in Uganda after spending about 15 years as a commercial motorcycle rider in Lagos.
NDLEA said he also admitted to swallowing additional pellets of narcotics before embarking on the trip.
Unable to state the quantity ingested, he was placed under observation for three days, during which he excreted 13 additional pellets.
The recovery brought the total seizure to 100 wraps of methamphetamine weighing 1.715 kilograms.
At the Apapa Seaport in Lagos, NDLEA officers working alongside the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies intercepted one of the largest narcotics shipments recorded this year.
The consignment contained 8,287 bags of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis weighing 4,143.5 kilograms with an estimated street value exceeding ₦10.3 billion.
The agency said the drugs were discovered inside a container imported from Canada following weeks of intelligence-led surveillance by its Maritime Intelligence Unit.
Operatives also foiled an attempt to export 2.5 kilograms of skunk, concealed inside a gas compressor, destined for Cyprus via a courier company in Lagos.
The NDLEA described the seizures as evidence of the growing sophistication of international trafficking syndicates and reaffirmed its determination to disrupt drug supply networks.
Beyond interdictions, the agency said it had intensified its nationwide War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign through sensitisation programmes in schools, communities, workplaces and religious centres.
Commending officers involved in the operations, the agency urged commands nationwide to sustain the momentum in both drug supply reduction and public enlightenment efforts.
“The momentum in drug supply reduction and public enlightenment campaigns must be sustained across all commands and formations,” the agency stated.
