By Lizzy Chirkpi
A Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced a 38-year-old South African woman, Will Jessica Ann, to a total of 40 years in prison for importing 5.75kg of heroin into Nigeria.
Ann was arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, after 14 large blocks of heroin weighing 5.75kg were allegedly found in her luggage.
The NDLEA said the convict concealed the drugs in two checked-in bags and travelled with her three-year-old son.
Ann arrived in Abuja aboard Qatar Airways flight QR1433 from Doha on July 6, 2026, having travelled from Cambodia through Doha.
According to the agency, she initially denied travelling with checked-in luggage but later admitted ownership after officers established that the tags on the two bags containing the drugs matched the claim tags attached to her passport.
She reportedly told the operatives that she had forgotten she had checked in the bags.
Ann was subsequently arraigned before Justice Obiora Atuegwu Egwuatu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on a two-count charge bordering on conspiracy to import and importation of 5.75kg of heroin in suit No. FHC/ABJ/CR/422/2026.
She pleaded guilty to both counts.
Delivering judgment on Thursday, Justice Egwuatu sentenced her to 15 years’ imprisonment on count one and 25 years on count two. The sentences are to run concurrently.
The NDLEA said intelligence gathered during the investigation indicated that Ann was allegedly a member of a transnational drug trafficking organisation operating along the Cambodia-South Africa axis with her husband/partner, Jan Coenraad De Jager.
The agency added that De Jager was arrested in Johannesburg, South Africa, on July 27 while allegedly attempting to traffic 3.2kg of illicit drugs to Hong Kong.
Reacting to the conviction, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd.), described the judgment as a demonstration of the judiciary’s support for the agency’s efforts to combat drug trafficking.
Marwa said the conviction would serve as “a strong deterrent to transnational drug cartels seeking to use Nigeria as a transit or destination point for hard drugs.”
He added that the arrest of Ann’s husband in South Africa barely three weeks after her arrest demonstrated the strength of intelligence-sharing and collaboration between the NDLEA and its international partners.
According to him, the swift conclusion of the case, from arrest to conviction, “reflects the effectiveness of NDLEA’s operations and its close working relationship with the Federal High Court.”
Marwa said the agency would continue to strengthen airport interdiction, intelligence-led operations and international collaboration to dismantle transnational drug trafficking networks using Nigeria as a corridor.
“Anyone, regardless of nationality, caught trafficking illicit drugs through Nigerian territory will face the full weight of the law,” he said.