The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 38-year-old South African woman at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, for allegedly attempting to smuggle 5.75 kilograms of heroin into Nigeria.
The agency disclosed this in a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja by its Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi.
According to Babafemi, the suspect concealed 14 large blocks of heroin inside her luggage and allegedly used her three-year-old son to avoid suspicion and escape thorough security screening.
He said the woman was apprehended on July 6 during the clearance of passengers arriving aboard Qatar Airways flight QR1433 from Doha.
Babafemi explained that the suspect initially denied travelling with any checked luggage. However, NDLEA operatives matched the baggage tags on two suitcases containing the drugs with the claim tags attached to her passport, prompting her to admit ownership.
The suspect reportedly told investigators she had travelled from Cambodia through Doha to Abuja and claimed she had forgotten that she checked in the bags.
Further intelligence, according to the NDLEA spokesperson, linked the woman to an international drug trafficking syndicate allegedly operated with her husband or partner, who is based in Cambodia. The network is said to transport illicit drugs along the Cambodia–South Africa route.
In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, arrested a 48-year-old commercial motorcycle rider over alleged methamphetamine trafficking.
Babafemi said the suspect was intercepted on June 28 after arriving from Madagascar through Addis Ababa on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
A search of his checked backpack uncovered 87 wraps of methamphetamine hidden inside clothing.
During interrogation, the suspect said he had worked as an okada rider in the Oke-Afa area of Lagos for 15 years before a friend based in Uganda recruited him into drug trafficking.
He claimed he swallowed several pellets of methamphetamine in Uganda before travelling to Madagascar to deliver the drugs. However, immigration officials in Madagascar allegedly denied him entry, forcing his sponsor to reroute him to Lagos, where he was arrested.
Babafemi said the suspect was placed under excretion observation after failing to state the exact number of drug pellets he had ingested.
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 combined weight of 1.715 kilograms.