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Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have intercepted a 30-year-old Brazilian woman, Ms Ingrid Benevides, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, with 30.09 kilograms of heroin concealed in factory-sealed coffee packs valued at over N3bn.
The suspect, a private security officer in Brazil, was arrested on Friday, 23 January 2026, upon her arrival in Abuja aboard Qatar Airways flight QR1431, following intelligence-led surveillance.
A statement released on Sunday by the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said a search of her two checked-in bags revealed 21 factory-sealed packs of Brazilian coffee, which, upon inspection, were found to contain white substances that later tested positive for heroin.
Babafemi said during preliminary interrogation, Benevides claimed she brought the illicit drugs into Nigeria under the guise of visiting the country for holidays.
“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 partly read.
In a related development, Babafemi said NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, on January 20, intercepted two passengers, Adediran Adedoyin and Afatakpa Ochuko, en route to Istanbul, Turkey.
He added that the suspects were found with 3,990 pills of tapentadol 250mg and tramadol 225mg concealed in food items packed in their luggage.
“At the MMIA Ikeja, Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Tuesday, 20th January intercepted two passengers: 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 tramadol 225mg concealed in food items packed in their bags, ” he said.
Meanwhile, he said operatives of the agency’s Marine Command, acting on credible intelligence, intercepted a wooden boat loaded with 44 jumbo bags of Ghana Loud cannabis weighing 1,848 kilograms at Jakande Beach, Lekki, Lagos, in the early hours of Thursday, January 22.
He said, “The shipment had barely arrived from Ghana when NDLEA officers acting on credible intelligence stormed the location around 1 am, recovered the consignment and the boat.”
In Kaduna State, he said two suspects, Aminu Baba, 20, and Abdulrasheed Abubakar, 28, were arrested in connection with the interception of two bags containing 140 packets of explosives destined for Kano and Kaduna.
He added that the bags were seized from a commercial bus along the Kaduna–Zaria highway, while the suspects were arrested in follow-up operations in Kano and Kaduna.
Babafemi said other intelligence-led operations across the country led to the arrest of multiple suspects and the seizure of large quantities of illicit drugs, including tramadol, skunk, pentazocine injections, cannabis seeds, and codeine syrup, in states such as Borno, Niger, Ekiti, Edo, Kano, Oyo, Benue, Lagos, Delta and Ondo.
NDLEA said the arrests and seizures form part of sustained efforts to disrupt drug trafficking networks, curb cross-border smuggling, and cut off the supply of illicit drugs to criminal and terror groups across the country.
Nigeria continues to face significant challenges from drug trafficking, both domestically and across its borders but the NDLEA has stepped up intelligence-driven operations targeting drug importation, distribution networks, and local trafficking syndicates.
