Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 30-year-old Brazilian woman, Ingrid Benevides, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, for allegedly attempting to smuggle 30.09 kilograms of white heroin into Nigeria.
The illicit drugs, concealed in factory-sealed coffee packs, are estimated to be worth over N3 billion in street value.
Benevides, a private security officer in Brazil, was arrested on Friday, January 23, 2026, upon her arrival in Abuja on a Qatar Airways flight QR1431, following what the agency described as processed intelligence.
In a statement issued on Sunday and signed by Femi Babafemi, Director, Media & Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja, the agency said a search conducted on the suspect’s two checked-in bags led to the discovery of 21 factory-sealed packets of Brazilian coffee.
“When the coffee bags were opened, rather than containing the beverage, what was found inside were white substances that 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 white heroin consignment under the guise of coming to Nigeria for holidays,” the statement said.
The NDLEA also reported multiple other interceptions and arrests across the country during the same period.
At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, operatives on Tuesday, January 20, intercepted two passengers, Adediran Adedoyin and Afatakpa Ochuko, who were heading to Istanbul, Turkey, aboard a Turkish Airlines flight. The suspects were found with a total of 3,990 pills of tapentadol 250mg and tramaking 225mg concealed in food items packed in their bags.
In Lagos, operatives of the agency’s Marine Command intercepted a wooden boat loaded with 44 jumbo bags of Ghana Loud, a strain of cannabis weighing 1,848 kilograms, at Jakande Beach in Lekki in the early hours of Thursday, January 22. The consignment had just arrived from Ghana when NDLEA officers, acting on credible intelligence, stormed the area around 1am and recovered both the drugs and the boat.
The statement further disclosed that two suspects, Aminu Ali Baba, 20, and Abdulrasheed Abubakar, 28, were arrested on Friday, January 23, 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 in Zaria, while Ali Baba was arrested at Karota Park in Kano and Abubakar at Mando Park in Kaduna during follow-up operations.
An intelligence-led raid at Kwangila, Zaria Local Government Area of Kaduna State on Thursday, January 22, also led to the arrest of Fatima Ibrahim, 42, and Adejimoh Ismaila, 44, with 120 kilograms of skunk recovered from them.
According to the NDLEA, operatives in Borno State on Wednesday, January 21, 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, resulted in the arrest of the owner of the consignment, Rabiu Imam, 32.
The agency also announced the arrest of a female suspect, Mrs. Eze Cynthia Chioma, on Friday, January 23, in Mokwa, Niger State, following the seizure of 78,500 pills of tramadol earlier the same day at Bode Saadu, Kwara State. The drugs were found 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,” the statement said.
In Ekiti State, NDLEA operatives on Saturday, January 24, arrested 72-year-old Afolalu Joseph at his residence on Aramoko Road, Ilawe-Ekiti, alongside Abu Bunmi, also known as Go Slow, 45, at the New Jerusalem area along Erijinyan Road. A total of 62 kilograms of skunk was recovered from the duo.
The agency also confirmed the arrest of a village head, Chief James Abamu, and another suspect, Aboy Egah Abamu, in Edo State following a raid at Lagos Camp, Ilushi, in Esan South East Local Government Area. The suspects were arrested on Wednesday, January 21, after soldiers of the Nigerian Army 4 Brigade, Benin City, recovered 681 kilograms of skunk and 181 kilograms of cannabis seeds from the location and handed them over to NDLEA.
Similarly, three suspects — Abba Hassan, Anas Moh’d Auwal and Sadik Ismail — were arrested in the Sabon Gari area of Kano on Tuesday, January 20, with 1,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection. In Oyo State, Olajumoke Ridwan and Baruwa Ibukun were arrested at Paris Lounge, Ring Road, Ibadan, on Thursday, January 22, with 181.5 litres of skuchies, described as a mixture of skunk and other illicit substances.
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