Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have arrested a Brazilian woman at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, with 30.09 kilograms of heroin concealed inside factory sealed coffee packs.
The suspect, identified as Ms Ingrid Benevides, 30, was intercepted on Friday, January 23, 2026, upon her arrival in Abuja aboard a Qatar Airways flight from Brazil. NDLEA officials said her arrest followed intelligence led surveillance after she was profiled as a high risk passenger.
In a statement issued on Sunday by the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, officers discovered 21 sealed packs of Brazilian coffee hidden in two checked in bags belonging to the suspect. A thorough inspection later revealed that the packs contained white substances which tested positive for heroin.
Babafemi said the seized drugs weighed a total of 30.09 kilograms and were valued at over N3 billion, describing the bust as the single largest heroin seizure recorded at the Abuja airport.
“When the coffee packs were opened, rather than the beverage, what was found were white substances that later tested positive for heroin, weighing a total of 30.09 kilograms. This is the largest heroin seizure ever recorded at the Abuja airport. During preliminary interrogation, the suspect claimed she brought the consignment under the guise of visiting Nigeria for holidays,” the statement read.
The NDLEA spokesman disclosed that Benevides, who reportedly works as a private security officer in Brazil, is currently undergoing further investigation to unravel the drug trafficking network behind the attempted importation.
In a related operation, NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, intercepted two passengers, Adediran Adedoyin and Afatakpa Ochuko, who were travelling to Istanbul, Turkey, on January 20. The suspects were found with a total of 3,990 pills of tapentadol 250mg and tramadol 225mg concealed in food items packed inside their luggage.
“At the MMIA Ikeja, Lagos, operatives intercepted two passengers heading to Istanbul aboard a Turkish Airlines flight with 3,990 pills of tapentadol and tramadol hidden in food items,” Babafemi said.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives attached to the Marine Command also intercepted a wooden boat conveying 44 jumbo bags of Ghana Loud cannabis weighing 1,848 kilograms at Jakande Beach, Lekki, Lagos. The interception was carried out around 1 am on Thursday, January 22, shortly after the shipment arrived from Ghana.
In Kaduna State, two suspects, Aminu Baba, 20, and Abdulrasheed Abubakar, 28, were arrested following the interception of two bags containing 140 packets of explosives concealed inside a commercial bus along the Kaduna Zaria highway. The suspects were later tracked and arrested in follow up operations in Kaduna and Kano states.
Babafemi added that several other intelligence driven operations across different parts of the country led to multiple arrests and the seizure of illicit drugs including tramadol, skunk, pentazocine injections, cannabis seeds, and codeine syrup in states such as Lagos, Kano, Oyo, Edo, Ekiti, Delta, Ondo, Niger, Benue, and Borno.
He said the latest arrests form part of sustained efforts by the agency to disrupt drug trafficking networks, curb cross border smuggling, and cut off the supply of illicit drugs to criminal and terror groups operating within and outside Nigeria.
According to the NDLEA, the agency remains committed to strengthening intelligence gathering and operational capacity to tackle drug trafficking challenges confronting the country.
