Nigerian court sentence <a href="https://absafricatv.com/us-to-impose-visa-bans-on-south-african-officials-over-alleged-anti/" title="US to impose visa bans on South African officials over alleged anti”>South African citizen to 40 years in prison for drug trafficking
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One court for Abuja, Nigeria capital, don sentence one South African citizen to 40 years in prison afta e find her guilty of importing 5.75kg heroin into Nigeria through di Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
Di Federal High Court Abuja sentence 38-year-old woman Will Jessica Ann on Thursday, 17 September.
Justice Obiora Egwuatu wey convict and sentence Ann afta she plead guilty to importation of di harmful substance, tok say crime no dey pay and di law no dey influenced by “emotions”.
E add say dem follow di law, say court dey convict pesin afta di pesin don plead guilty.
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NDLEA bin arraign Will Jessica Ann on two-count charge wey border on importation of 5.75kg heroin and conspiracy to import 5.75kg of heroin into Nigeria, wey dey punishable under Section 14 of di National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act, Cap N30, Laws of di Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
Di judge sentence am to 15 years in jail on count 1 and 25 years on count 2, wey bring di total years of imprisonment to 40 years.
Di sentence go however run concurrently, wey mean say she go serve a maximum of 25 years in prison.
Following di conviction, di prosecution bin ask di court to consider di street value of heroin in sentencing di defendant. Dem say one kilogramme of di drug worth about 18 million naira.
Dem give Ann opportunity to tok in mitigation. She bin promise neva to do dat kain tin again. She bin dey remorseful and say she no know say illegal drugs bin dey her bags.
Reacting to di conviction, chairman of NDLEA, Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), say di judgement show as Nigerian judiciary dey support di agency war against drug trafficking. E say Nigeria no go serve as soft landing for international drug cartels.
E also say di swift dispensation of justice for di mata, from arrest to conviction show di effectiveness of NDLEA operations plus dia close working relationship wit di court.
Na on Monday, 6 July, operatives of di National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) bin arrest di South African afta dem discova say she hide 14 large blocks of heroin, wey weigh 5.75 kilograms for her luggage.
She bin use her three-year-old son as cova to beat security checks and evade thorough screening, di drug enforcement agency add.
According to NDLEA, dem catch her during di inward clearance of passengers on Qatar Airways flight QR 1433 from Doha to Abuja on Monday 6 July 2026, despite di magomago wey she do.
Di agency say di suspect initially bin deny say she dey travel wit checked-in luggage, bifor operatives later find out say she get two suitcases wey contain14 large blocks of heroin.
NDLEA claim say she be member of one transnational drug trafficking along wit her husband or partner, Jan Coenraad De Jager.
Di couple base for Cambodia and na from dia dem dey operate dia drug network along di Cambodian-South African axis.
Authorities don since arrest her husband for Johannesburg, South Africa, on 27 July 2026 as e dey try traffic 3.2kg illicit drug to Hongkong, NDLEA tok.
