A 38-year-old South African woman, Ms. Will Jessica Ann, has been sentenced to a total of 40 years in prison for importing 5.75 kilograms of heroin into Nigeria.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said the convict was arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, after operatives discovered 14 large blocks of heroin concealed in two of her luggage bags.
According to the Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the suspect arrived in Abuja aboard Qatar Airways flight QR1433 from Doha on July 6, 2026, and initially denied travelling with check-in luggage. However, NDLEA officers established that two bags containing the drugs bore tags corresponding with the claim tags attached to her passport. She subsequently admitted ownership of the bags, claiming she had forgotten she checked them in.
Babafemi said intelligence gathered after her arrest indicated that Ann was allegedly part of a transnational drug trafficking organisation operating along the Cambodian-South African axis with her husband/partner, Jan Coenraad De Jager, based in Cambodia. De Jager was also arrested in Johannesburg, South Africa, on July 27 while allegedly attempting to traffic 3.2kg of illicit drugs to Hong Kong.
Ann was arraigned before Justice Obiora Atuegwu Egwuatu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on a two-count charge of conspiracy to import and importation of 5.75kg of heroin in suit No. FHC/ABJ/CR/422/2026. She pleaded guilty to the charges.
Delivering judgment on Thursday, September 17, 2026, Justice Egwuatu sentenced her to 15 years imprisonment on the first count and 25 years on the second count, totalling 40 years. The sentences are to run concurrently.
Reacting to the judgment, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd.), described the conviction as a demonstration of the judiciary’s support for the Agency’s fight against drug trafficking.
Marwa said the case reinforces NDLEA’s position that Nigeria will not become a soft landing for international drug cartels, adding that the subsequent arrest of Ann’s husband in South Africa demonstrated the value of intelligence sharing and international collaboration.
He said the swift conclusion of the case, from arrest to conviction, also reflected the effectiveness of NDLEA’s airport interdiction operations and its collaboration with the Federal High Court.
The NDLEA chairman warned that the Agency would continue to strengthen airport interdiction, intelligence-led operations and international cooperation to dismantle transnational drug trafficking networks, stressing that anyone caught trafficking illicit drugs through Nigeria, regardless of nationality, would face the full weight of the law.
