South African woman to spend 40 years in prison for importing 5.75kg heroin into Nigeria

A 38-year-old South African woman, Ms. Will Jessica Ann, has been sentenced to 40 years imprisonment by the Federal High Court in Abuja for importing 5.75 kilogrammes of heroin into Nigeria.

The convict was arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, after 14 large blocks of heroin weighing 5.75kg were discovered concealed in her luggage.

The NDLEA said the suspect allegedly used her three-year-old son as a cover to evade thorough security screening.

She was arrested on Monday, July 6, 2026, during the inward clearance of passengers aboard Qatar Airways flight QR1433 from Doha to Abuja.

According to the director of media and advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the suspect initially denied travelling with checked-in luggage.

However, NDLEA officers established that two bags containing the drugs had tags corresponding with the claim tags attached to her passport.

She subsequently admitted ownership of the bags, claiming that she had forgotten that she checked in the luggage.

The agency said she told investigators that she had travelled from Cambodia through Doha to Abuja.

Investigations further revealed that she was allegedly a member of a transnational drug trafficking organisation operating along the Cambodian-South African axis with her husband/partner, Jan Coenraad De Jager.

De Jager was subsequently arrested in Johannesburg, South Africa, on July 27, 2026, while allegedly attempting to traffic 3.2kg of illicit drugs to Hong Kong.

Will Jessica Ann was arraigned before Justice Obiora Atuegwu Egwuatu on a two-count charge in suit No. FHC/ABJ/CR/422/2026, bordering on the importation of 5.75kg of heroin and conspiracy to import the same quantity into Nigeria.

She pleaded guilty to both counts.

Delivering judgment Thursday, September 17, 2026, Justice Egwuatu sentenced her to 15 years imprisonment on count one and 25 years on count two, bringing the total terms imposed to 40 years.

The NDLEA clarified that the sentences will run concurrently.

Reacting to the judgment, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), described the conviction as a demonstration of the Nigerian judiciary’s support for the agency’s efforts against drug trafficking.

Marwa said the judgment would serve as a deterrent to international drug cartels seeking to use Nigeria as a transit or destination point for hard drugs.

He said the case also reinforced the agency’s position that Nigeria would not serve as a “soft landing” for international drug cartels.

According to him, the arrest of the convict’s husband in South Africa barely three weeks after her arrest, while allegedly attempting another trafficking operation to Hong Kong, demonstrates the importance of intelligence-sharing and international collaboration in disrupting transnational drug networks.

Marwa added that the swift conclusion of the case, from arrest to conviction, reflected the effectiveness of the agency’s airport interdiction operations and its collaboration with the Federal High Court.

He warned that the NDLEA would continue to strengthen airport interdiction, intelligence-led operations and international cooperation to dismantle transnational drug trafficking networks using Nigeria as a corridor.

He further stated that anyone, irrespective of nationality, caught trafficking illicit drugs through Nigerian territory would face the full weight of the law.