NDLEA nabs 30-year-old Brazilian woman with 30kg heroin at Abuja airport

Stanley Ihedigbo

A major drug trafficking attempt was foiled at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, as operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arrested a 30-year-old Brazilian woman, Ms. Ingrid Rosa Benevides, with 30.09 kilograms of white heroin hidden in factory-sealed coffee packs worth more than N3 billion.

According to the Director, Media & Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja, Femi Babafemi, the suspect, who works as a private security officer in Brazil, was arrested at the Abuja airport on Friday, 23rd January 2026, upon her arrival on a Qatar Airways flight QR1431, following processed intelligence.

After her arrest, a search was conducted on her two checked-in bags, where 21 factory-sealed packets of Brazilian coffee were found.

When the coffee packs were opened, instead of the beverage, white substances were discovered and later tested positive for heroin, weighing a total of 30.09 kilograms, making it the single largest heroin seizure at the Abuja airport.

During her preliminary interview, the suspect claimed she brought the heroin consignment under the guise of coming to Nigeria for a holiday.

At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Tuesday, 20th January, intercepted two passengers, Adediran Adedoyin and Afatakpa Ochuko, who were heading to Istanbul, Turkey, aboard a Turkish Airlines flight, with a total of 3,990 pills of tapentadol 250mg and tramaking 225mg concealed in food items packed in their bags.

Meanwhile, operatives of the Marine Command of the Agency, in the early hours of Thursday, 22nd January, intercepted a wooden boat loaded with 44 jumbo bags of Ghana Loud, a strain of cannabis weighing 1,848 kilograms, at Jakande Beach, Lekki, Lagos.

The shipment had barely arrived from Ghana when NDLEA officers, acting on credible intelligence, stormed the location around 1:00 a.m., recovered the consignment and seized the boat.

Two suspects, Aminu Ali Baba, 20, and Abdulrasheed Abubakar, 28, were on Friday, 23rd January, arrested by NDLEA operatives in connection with the seizure of two bags containing 140 packets of explosives heading to Kano and Kaduna.

The bags were intercepted in a commercial bus along the Kaduna–Zaria highway, Zaria, while Aminu Ali Baba was arrested at Karota Park in Kano and Abdulrasheed Abubakar nabbed at Mando Park in Kaduna in swift follow-up operations.

An intelligence-led raid at Kwangila, Zaria LGA, Kaduna, on Thursday, 22nd January, led to the arrest of Fatima Ibrahim, 42, and Adejimoh Ismaila, 44, with 120 kilograms of skunk recovered from them.

As part of efforts to disrupt the supply chain of illicit drugs to terror groups, NDLEA operatives in Borno State on Wednesday, 21st January, intercepted 179,590 pills of tramadol and diazepam concealed in sacks of charcoal and animal feeds in a public transport vehicle coming from Potiskum, Yobe State.

A follow-up operation at Bulabulin, Maiduguri, led to the arrest of the owner, Rabiu Imam, 32.

A female suspect, Mrs. Eze Cynthia Chioma, was arrested on Friday, 23rd January, in Mokwa, Niger State, in a follow-up operation by NDLEA operatives following the seizure of her consignment of 78,500 pills of tramadol the same day at Bode Saadu, Kwara State, in a truck coming from Lagos.

Her husband, currently remanded in prison and facing trial, was arrested for the same drug trafficking offence last year.

In Ekiti, NDLEA operatives on Saturday, 24th January, arrested 72-year-old Afolalu Joseph at 15 Aramoko Road, Mushin, Ilawe-Ekiti, and Abu Bunmi (alias Go Slow), 45, at New Jerusalem area, Erijinyan Road, Ilawe-Ekiti, for illicit drug dealing. A total of 62 kilograms of skunk were recovered from the duo.

A village head, Chief James Abamu, and another suspect, Aboy Egah Abamu, were taken into custody by the Edo State Command of NDLEA following their arrest and prompt transfer to the Agency by soldiers of the Nigerian Army 4 Brigade, Benin City, after a raid at Lagos Camp, Ilushi, in Esan South-East LGA, where 681kg of skunk and 181kg of cannabis seeds were recovered from them on Wednesday, 21st January.

While the trio of Abba Hassan, Anas Moh’d Auwal and Sadik Ismail were arrested in Sabon Gari area of Kano on Tuesday, 20th January, with 1,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection, the duo of Olajumoke Ridwan and Baruwa Ibukun were nabbed at Paris Lounge, Ring Road, Ibadan, Oyo State, on Thursday, 22nd January, with 181.5 litres of “skuchies” — a mixture of skunk and other illicit substances — recovered from them.

In Benue State, a female suspect, Janet Iornongu, was arrested at Yes Ikyuan village, Guma LGA, with 210kg of skunk, while a total of 254.5kg of the same psychoactive substance was seized from Anita Job along Abaji–Toto Road, FCT, on Thursday, 22nd January.

A total of 39,800 pills of tramadol 225mg were recovered from two suspects, Hamisu Misbahu and Chima Obi, at Alaba Rago, Mile 2 area of Lagos, on Monday, 19th January.

No fewer than 30,003 pills of tramadol, molly and other opioids, as well as 20 litres of codeine syrup, were seized from a suspect, Chinyecherem Cyprian Ugwu, by NDLEA officers along Sapele Road, Warri, Delta State, on Thursday, 22nd January, while Kayode Obameye, 57, was nabbed at Mobil Roundabout, Akure, Ondo State, with 1,500 kilograms of skunk recovered from him on Friday, 23rd January.

Across all commands and formations nationwide, NDLEA officers continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities in the past week.

These included WADA enlightenment lectures at Government Science Secondary School, Jalingo, Taraba State; Beloved Montessori Group of Schools, Ede, Osun State; Owerri City Junior Secondary School, Imo State; Government Day Secondary School, Otukpo, Benue State; and Darawa Primary School, Dutsinma, Katsina State, among others.

While commending the officers and men of the NAIA, MMIA, Marine, Borno, Jigawa, Kwara, Kaduna, Ekiti, Edo, Kano, Delta, Oyo, FCT, Benue, Lagos and Ondo Commands for the arrests, seizures and their dexterity, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) enjoined them and their colleagues across the country to maintain the current standard of professionalism in all drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction activities.