By Patrick Wemambu
Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Thursday sentenced a female South African national identified as Jessica Ann to 25 years imprisonment for importing 5.75 kilogrammes of heroin into Nigeria.
Justice Obiora Egwuatu, who convicted and sentenced Ann after she pleaded guilty to unlawfully importing the heroin, stated that crime does not pay and that the law is not influenced by “emotions.”
In a statement made available Thursday, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said its operatives at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja on Monday, July 6, 2026, apprehended the alleged trafficker when she imported the substance into the country.
The spokesman of NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, while confirming Ann’s arrest in the statement, explained that she was nabbed during the inward clearance of passengers on Qatar Airways Flight QR1433, arriving from Doha.
The NDLEA noted that the suspect initially denied travelling with any checked-in luggage before operatives established that two suitcases containing 14 large blocks of heroin bore baggage tags matching the claim tags attached to her passport.
“Though she initially denied travelling with check-in bags, after operatives were able to quickly establish that the two bags containing the drugs had tags which tallied with the claim tags attached to her passport, she recanted and admitted ownership of the bags, adding that she forgot she checked in the two bags,” Babafemi stated in the release.
The anti-narcotics agency said the suspect claimed she had travelled from Cambodia through Doha before arriving in Abuja.
However, NDLEA subsequently arraigned Ann in August before the Court, where she pleaded guilty to unlawfully importing 5.75 kilogrammes.
Specifically, she was arraigned on a two-count charge bordering on conspiracy and unlawful importation, punishable under Section 14 of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act, Cap N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
