South African politician Herman Mashaba has praised Nigeria’s judiciary and drug enforcement authorities following the conviction of a South African woman over the importation of 5.75kg of heroin.
Mashaba, president of ActionSA and a candidate for the Johannesburg mayoral race, reacted on Friday after 38-year-old Will Jessica Ann was sentenced by the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Ann was convicted after pleading guilty to charges involving the importation of 5.75kg of heroin and conspiracy to import the same quantity into Nigeria.
Justice Obiora Atuegwu Egwuatu sentenced her to 15 years on one count and 25 years on the second. The terms, which add up to 40 years, were ordered to run concurrently.
Reacting to the judgment on X, Mashaba said Nigeria was taking action against drug trafficking in a way he believed South Africa’s government and justice system had failed to do.
His comments followed the conviction after NDLEA operatives arrested Ann at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja on July 6, 2026.
According to the NDLEA, officers discovered 14 large blocks of heroin weighing 5.75kg in two pieces of luggage linked to Ann after she arrived on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha. The agency said she had travelled from Cambodia through Doha to Abuja.
The NDLEA also said intelligence gathered during the investigation linked Ann to an alleged transnational drug trafficking network operating along the Cambodian-South African route.
Her alleged partner, Jan Coenraad De Jager, was subsequently arrested in Johannesburg on July 27 while allegedly attempting to traffic 3.2kg of illicit drugs to Hong Kong, according to the agency.
NDLEA chairman Mohamed Buba Marwa described Ann’s conviction as a demonstration of judicial support for the agency’s campaign against drug trafficking.
Marwa said the case also highlighted the importance of cooperation between Nigerian authorities and international partners in tackling transnational drug networks.
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Mashaba, a former mayor of Johannesburg, has continued to make law-and-order issues a prominent part of his political messaging. He is currently ActionSA’s candidate for Johannesburg in South Africa’s 2026 municipal elections.
The case has also drawn attention to cooperation between Nigerian and South African authorities in combating international drug trafficking.