NDLEA intercepts Brazilian lady with N3b heroin in coffee packs at Abuja airport

A 30-year-old Brazilian lady, Ms. Ingrid Rosa Benevides, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja for bringing into Nigeria a total of 30.09 kilograms of white heroin concealed in factory sealed coffee packs worth over N3 billion in street value.

The suspect who works as a private security officer in Brazil was arrested at the Abuja airport on Friday 23rd January 2026 upon her arrival on a Qatar Airways flight QR1431, following processed intelligence. After her arrest, a search was conducted on her two checked-in bags where 21 factory-sealed packets of Brazilian coffee were found.

Confirming her arrest to newsmen, Femi Babafemi, spokesperson of the agency, said 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.

Babafemi mentioned that in a related development, NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, (MMIA) Ikeja, Lagos, on Tuesday, January 20th, intercepted two passengers identified as Adediran Adedoyin and Afatakpa Ochuko, who were heading to Istanbul, Turkey, aboard a Turkish Airlines flight with a total of 3,990 pills of tapentadol 250mg and tramaking 225mg  concealed in food items packed in their bags.

Meanwhile, operatives of the Marine Command of the Agency in the early hours of Thursday 22nd January intercepted a wooden boat loaded with 44 jumbo bags of Ghana Loud, a strain of cannabis weighing 1,848 kilograms at the Jakande beach in Lekki Lagos. The shipment had barely arrived from Ghana when NDLEA officers acting on credible intelligence stormed the location around 1am, recovered the consignment and the boat.