Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have arrested a 38-year-old South African woman at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, for allegedly attempting to smuggle 5.75 kilogrammes of heroin into Nigeria.
The anti-narcotics agency said the suspect, who allegedly travelled with her three-year-old son to avoid suspicion, was arrested during the inward clearance of passengers on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha on July 6.
NDLEA disclosed this in a statement issued on Sunday, saying the woman initially denied checking in any luggage before investigations linked two suitcases containing heroin to baggage tags attached to her passport.
According to the agency, she later admitted ownership of the bags after claiming she had forgotten she checked them in.
The agency added that preliminary investigations revealed the suspect travelled from Cambodia through Doha to Abuja and is believed to be linked to a transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating along the Cambodia-South Africa route.
In a related operation, NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, arrested a 48-year-old commercial motorcycle rider who arrived from Madagascar via Addis Ababa on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
A search of his backpack reportedly uncovered 87 wraps of methamphetamine concealed inside clothing.
The suspect allegedly confessed that he had worked as a commercial motorcyclist in Lagos for about 15 years before an associate based in Uganda recruited him into drug trafficking.
The agency further disclosed that the suspect admitted swallowing additional pellets of methamphetamine before embarking on the trip to Madagascar to deliver the illicit consignment.
However, he was denied entry by immigration authorities in Madagascar and deported to Lagos, where he was arrested.
NDLEA said the suspect was placed under observation for three days after he could not state the exact number of pellets he ingested.
He later excreted 13 additional pellets, bringing the total recovery to 100 wraps of methamphetamine weighing 1.715 kilogrammes.
Meanwhile, at the Apapa Seaport in Lagos, NDLEA officers, working with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies, intercepted 8,287 bags of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, weighing 4,143.5 kilogrammes.
The agency estimated the street value of the seizure at more than ₦10.3bn.
It said the consignment was uncovered during a joint examination of a container imported from Canada after weeks of intelligence gathering by its Maritime Intelligence Unit.
In another operation, NDLEA also foiled an attempt to export 2.5 kilogrammes of skunk concealed inside a gas compressor bound for Cyprus through a Lagos-based courier company.
Beyond enforcement operations, the agency said it sustained its nationwide War Against Drug Abuse campaign through sensitisation programmes in schools, communities, workplaces and places of worship across Ebonyi, Kano, Ekiti and Ogun states.
The campaign also included advocacy visits to government officials as part of efforts to strengthen public awareness on the dangers of drug abuse.
The agency commended officers involved in the various operations and urged its commands nationwide to sustain the momentum in combating drug trafficking and intensifying public enlightenment efforts.
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