Nigeria’s anti-narcotics agency has arrested a South African woman at Abuja’s international airport after allegedly finding 5.75 kilogrammes of heroin concealed in her luggage, while also announcing a series of major drug seizures across the country.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said the 38-year-old suspect was arrested on July 6 during the arrival clearance of passengers on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha.
In a statement on Sunday, NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi said the woman had arrived with her three-year-old son and initially denied checking in any luggage.
The statement read, “Though she initially denied travelling with check-in bags, 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 recanted and admitted ownership of the bags, adding that she forgot she checked in the two bags.”
Officers later matched baggage claim tags attached to her passport with two suitcases found to contain 14 parcels of heroin weighing 5.75 kilogrammes, prompting her to acknowledge ownership of the bags, the agency said.
According to the NDLEA, the suspect told investigators she had travelled from Cambodia through Doha to Abuja.
The agency said preliminary intelligence suggested she was linked to a transnational drug trafficking network allegedly operating between Cambodia and South Africa.
