The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has arrested a 30-year-old Brazilian woman, Ms. Ingrid Rosa Benevides, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, for attempting to smuggle heroin worth over N3 billion into Nigeria.
The agency also intercepted bags of explosives heading to Kano and Kaduna, while several suspects, including a 72-year-old grandfather and a village head in Edo State, were taken into custody during coordinated raids across multiple states.
In a statement on Sunday, signed by the Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters, Femi Babafemi, the agency said Benevides was arrested on Friday, January 23, 2026, upon her arrival on a Qatar Airways flight from Brazil following credible intelligence.
Babafemi said, “A search of her two checked-in bags led to the discovery of 21 factory-sealed packets of Brazilian coffee. However, when the packs were opened, they were found to contain white substances that tested positive for heroin, weighing a total of 30.09 kilograms.”
He described the seizure as “the single largest heroin interception at the Abuja airport,” adding that the suspect claimed during preliminary interrogation that she brought the drugs under the guise of coming to Nigeria for holidays.
At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, NDLEA operatives also intercepted two passengers, Adediran Adedoyin and Afatakpa Ochuko, who were travelling to Istanbul, Turkey, with 3,990 pills of tapentadol and tramaking concealed in food items packed in their bags.
In another major operation, operatives of the Marine Command intercepted a wooden boat conveying 44 jumbo bags of Ghana Loud cannabis, weighing 1,848 kilograms, at Jakande Beach, Lekki, Lagos, in the early hours of Thursday, January 22.
“The boat had barely arrived from Ghana when NDLEA officers, acting on credible intelligence, stormed the location around 1am and recovered the consignment,” Babafemi said.
The agency also arrested two suspects, Aminu Ali Baba, 20, and Abdulrasheed Abubakar, 28, in connection with the seizure of two bags containing 140 packets of explosives heading to Kano and Kaduna. The explosives were intercepted in a commercial bus along the Kaduna–Zaria highway, while the suspects were later tracked and arrested in Kano and Kaduna respectively.
In Borno State, NDLEA operatives intercepted 179,590 pills of tramadol and diazepam concealed in sacks of charcoal and animal feeds in a vehicle coming from Potiskum, Yobe State. A follow-up operation led to the arrest of the owner of the drugs, Rabiu Imam, 32, in Maiduguri.
Similarly, a female suspect, Mrs. Eze Cynthia Chioma, was arrested in Mokwa, Niger State, following the seizure of 78,500 tramadol pills concealed in a truck intercepted earlier at Bode Saadu, Kwara State.
Babafemi further disclosed that in Ekiti State, NDLEA operatives arrested a 72-year-old man, Afolalu Joseph, alongside another suspect, Abu Bunmi, with a total of 62 kilograms of skunk recovered from them.
In Edo State, a village head, Chief James Abamu, and another suspect were taken into custody after soldiers of the Nigerian Army intercepted 681kg of skunk and 181kg of cannabis seeds during a raid in Esan South East Local Government Area.
Other arrests and seizures were recorded in Kano, Oyo, Benue, FCT, Lagos, Delta and Ondo states, where various quantities of tramadol, codeine syrup, pentazocine injections, skunk and other illicit substances were recovered.
Babafemi noted that NDLEA officers across the country also sustained their War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, sensitisation campaigns in schools, worship centres and communities during the week.
Commending the officers involved in the operations, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), urged them to maintain professionalism.
“While commending the officers and men of the various commands for their arrests, seizures and dexterity, Marwa enjoined them and their colleagues nationwide to sustain the current standard of professionalism in all drug supply and drug demand reduction activities,” the statement added.
