Business
NDLEA intercepts South African lady with 3-year-old son as cover to traffic heroin
A 38-year-old South African lady, Ms. Will Jessica Ann has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) Abuja after she was found to have concealed 14 large blocks of heroin weighing 5.75 kilograms in her luggage, using her three-year-old son as a cover to beat security checks and evade thorough screening.
The suspect was arrested by NDLEA officers on Monday 6th July 2026 during the inward clearance of passengers on Qatar Airways flight QR 1433 from Doha to Abuja. Though she initially denied travelling with check-in bags, but after operatives were able to quickly establish that the two bags containing the drugs had tags which tallied with the claim tags attached to her passport, she recounted and admitted ownership of the bags adding that she forgot she checked in the two bags.
She claimed to have travelled from Cambodia through Doha to Abuja. Intelligence leading to her arrests indicates she is a member of a transnational drug trafficking organization along with her husband/partner, Jan Coenraad De Jager, based in Cambodia from where they operate their drug network along the Cambodian-South African axis.
In another successful interdiction operation, NDLEA officers at the terminal 2 arrival hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja Lagos on 28th June 2026 intercepted a commercial motorcycle operator popularly known as ‘Okada rider’, 48-year-old Onyechere Daniel Chinadu following his arrival from Madagascar via Addis Ababa aboard an Ethiopian Airways flight.
A thorough search of his back pack, which he had checked in, led to the discovery of 87 wraps of methamphetamine concealed within cloths in his bag. In his statement, Onyechere claimed he has been working for 15 years as an Okada rider at Oke-Afo area of Lagos before his Uganda based friend recruited him into drug trafficking.
He said he ingested the recovered pellets of methamphetamine in Uganda before embarking on his planned journey to Madagascar to deliver the drug consignment. He however said that upon arrival in Madagascar, he was denied entry by Immigration authorities. As a result, his friend and sponsor, Ozor Igo, based in Uganda rerouted his flight to Lagos, where he was eventually arrested by NDLEA officers.
The suspect was unable to state the exact number of pellets he had ingested in Uganda and as a result, he was placed under excretion observation for a period of three days. Between the date of his arrest and 1st of July, he was able to excrete 13 pellets in addition to the initial 87 wraps recovered from him, bringing the total number to 100 wraps of methamphetamine with a gross weight of 1.715 kilograms.
At the Apapa seaport in Lagos, a total of 8,287 nylon bags of Canadian Loud weighing 4,143.5 kilograms worth over N10.3 billion in street value were discovered in a container imported from Canada during a joint examination of the shipment by NDLEA officers, Customs personnel and other security agencies on Friday 10th July 2026.
The discovery followed weeks of targeted tracking and monitoring of the shipment since its departure from Montreal, Canada, by operatives of the Maritime Intelligence Unit of NDLEA in close collaboration with the Apapa Strategic Command of the Agency. Meanwhile, an attempt to export a 2.5kg skunk, a strain of cannabis, concealed in a gas compressor going to Cyprus through a courier company in Lagos has been thwarted by NDLEA operatives of the Directorate of Operation and General Investigation(DOGI).
With the same zeal, Commands and formations of the Agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization activities in schools, worship centres, work places and communities among others in the past week. These include: WADA enlightenment lecture for students and staff of Nnodo Secondary School, Abakaliki, Ebonyi; Government Girls Secondary School, Sabon Gida, Sharada, Kano; Royal Jesuit College, Agbado Ekiti; and Community Secondary School, Idofa, Ogun, while the leadership of Zone 14 Command of NDLEA paid a WADA advocacy visit to Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara at Government House Port Harcourt, among others.
While commending the officers and men of DOGI, MMIA, NAIA, MIU, and, Apapa Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) noted their drug supply reduction efforts balanced with WADA sensitization activities while he charged them and their compatriots across the country not to rest on their past laurels.
The post NDLEA intercepts South African lady with 3-year-old son as cover to traffic heroin appeared first on Business Today NG.
A passenger has died aboard a Kenya Airways flight from Nairobi to Lagos after becoming unresponsive about 20 minutes before the aircraft landed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
Kenya Airways confirmed the incident in a statement on Wednesday, saying the medical emergency occurred at about 9:20 p.m. Nigerian time on Tuesday.
The airline said its crew administered first aid to the passenger in line with their training and followed emergency procedures before the aircraft landed at 9:41 p.m.
“Upon landing at Murtala Muhammed International Airport at 21:41 hrs, the aircraft was met by medical personnel, and upon further examination, the medical personnel confirmed that the passenger had passed away,” the airline said.
Kenya Airways expressed condolences to the passenger’s family and friends and said it was providing support in coordination with the family, local authorities and aviation regulators.
The airline did not disclose the identity of the passenger or the cause of death, saying it would respect the privacy and dignity of those involved.
NCAA responds
Responding to the incident, Michael Achimugu, Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), said the police have taken over the investigation.
Mr Achimugu said he was briefed by Kenya Airways’ country manager on Wednesday morning.
According to him, the passenger had reportedly been picked up in Madagascar after authorities there denied him entry and was being returned to Nigeria by Kenya Airways.
He said the airline was expected to return the passenger because it had transported him to Madagascar.
“The country manager said he was picked from Madagascar, after customs had earlier denied him entry into the country, and as expected, the airline that brought him into the country must take him back,” Mr Achimugu said.
He further said the passenger allegedly became restless and aggressive during the return flight, attempted to gain access to the cockpit and later tried to open the rear door of the aircraft.
He explained that the passenger was subsequently restrained by members of the crew.
“When he got into the aircraft, he became restless and aggressive inside the aircraft, wanted to enter the cockpit and later wanted to open the rear door, but was later tied down. His hands were tied to his back to ensure that he stopped the troubles,” he said.
Mr Achimugu said the passenger was pronounced dead after the aircraft arrived in Lagos.
“But when he got to Nigeria, he was declared dead on arrival. I don’t want to pre-empt the police investigation, but they have taken it over for now,” he said.
He added that the deceased’s family could request an autopsy as the investigation progresses.
Police begin investigation
The spokesperson for the Airport Command of the Nigeria Police Force, Muhammed Adeola, confirmed that an investigation had commenced.
Mr Adeola said the incident involved an “inadmissible passenger” and that complications reportedly developed during the return flight.
“Yes, it’s true, and investigations have commenced. It’s an issue of an inadmissible passenger, and the said complications arose on their way back,” he said.
He said the passenger became unable to breathe before medical personnel were alerted ahead of the aircraft’s arrival.
Mr Adeola said the police have taken statements from members of the flight crew, including the captain.
He added that the body had been deposited at a morgue in Ikeja.
Similar incident
The death is not the first reported case of a passenger dying aboard an international flight bound for Lagos.
In March 2019, a 54-year-old passenger aboard a Delta Air Lines flight from Atlanta, United States, to Lagos was found unresponsive shortly before the aircraft landed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport.
The passenger was confirmed dead after the aircraft landed, with medical personnel meeting the flight at the airport.
Medical emergencies have also led to international flights returning to Lagos.
In September 2025, PREMIUM TIMES reported that a United Airlines flight from Lagos to Washington, D.C., returned to Lagos after a passenger suffered a medical emergency about 90 minutes into the journey. Medical personnel attended to the passenger after the aircraft landed.
Kenya Airways said it is providing the necessary support in coordination with the deceased passenger’s family, local authorities and aviation regulators.
The airline also apologised for any inconvenience the incident may have caused other passengers.
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