NDLEA Seizes N12.4bn Canadian Cannabis At Lagos Port, Busts Drug Syndicate

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has intercepted a 40-foot container loaded with 4,959 kilograms of Canadian Loud cannabis valued at N12.397 billion at the Apapa Port in Lagos.

Vanguard reported that the seizure followed more than four weeks of intelligence-led surveillance and was made on Wednesday, June 23, during a joint examination by NDLEA, Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies.

The container, which also held a Ford and a Nissan vehicle, had been under surveillance since April 25 when it left Toronto, Canada. It travelled by truck to Montreal, moved by rail, passed through Tanger Med Port in Morocco, and arrived at Tin Can Port in Lagos on June 4 before being transferred to Apapa Port.

In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives arrested a 38-year-old businesswoman, Iwebema Ogechi Peace, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos while she was attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to Beijing, China.

Vanguard reported that a search of her luggage uncovered four parcels of cocaine weighing 7.5 kilograms, professionally concealed in a false compartment.

The agency also uncovered a syndicate that plants illicit drugs in the luggage of unsuspecting passengers at motor parks. The operation began after NDLEA operatives in Abuja, working with colleagues in Anambra State, intercepted a Sienna bus travelling from Nnewi at Abaji in the FCT on June 20.

A search of the vehicle led to the recovery of a waybill package containing 467.7 grams of methamphetamine hidden inside a black nylon bag placed in a sack of clothes.

Punch reported that the NDLEA valued the cannabis seizure at N12.3 billion.

Sources: Vanguard; Punch