NDLEA arrests South African woman with 5.75kg of heroin at Abuja airport after allegedly using her 3-year-old son to evade security checks

A 38-year-old South African woman, Ms.Jessica Ann Will, was arrested by officers from the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) in Abuja.She was found to be carrying 14 large heroin blocks, weighing a total of 5.75 kilograms, hidden in her luggage.

The agency's Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, shared this information in a statement released on Sunday, July 12, 2026.

He stated that the suspect used her three-year-old son as a way to bypass security checks and avoid detailed screening.

Babafemi explained that the suspect first denied having any checked-in luggage.

However, NDLEA officers discovered that the baggage tags matched the claim tags linked to her passport, which made her admit ownership of the bags.

The statement said, "The suspect was arrested by NDLEA officers on Monday, July 6th, 2026, during the inward clearance process of passengers on Qatar Airways flight QR 1433, which arrived from Doha to Abuja."

It continued, "Although she initially denied traveling with checked-in bags, after the officers confirmed that the two bags containing the drugs had tags matching those on her passport, she admitted she had checked in the bags and forgot about them."

The statement also mentioned that the suspect claimed she had traveled from Cambodia through Doha to Abuja.

Intelligence reports indicate that she is a member of a transnational drug trafficking group, alongside her husband or partner, Jan Coenraad De Jager, who is based in Cambodia.They operate a drug network that spans the Cambodian-South African region.