By Deborah Nnamdi
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted a 40-foot container loaded with 4,959 kilograms of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis valued at an estimated N12.397 billion, at the Apapa Port in Lagos.
The seizure followed more than four weeks of intelligence-led surveillance and was carried out on June 23 during a joint examination involving the NDLEA Apapa Strategic Command, the Nigeria Customs Service, other security agencies and port stakeholders.
According to the agency, the container, which also contained a Ford and a Nissan vehicle, had been under surveillance since it departed Toronto, Canada, on April 25. The shipment was transported by truck to Montreal, moved by rail, passed through Tanger Med Port in Morocco, and arrived in Lagos before it was intercepted at Apapa Port.
In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives arrested a 38-year-old businesswoman, Iwebema Ogechi Peace, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to Beijing, China, with 7.5 kilograms of cocaine concealed in the false bottom of her suitcase. The suspect, who claimed she travelled regularly to China for business, was arrested following credible intelligence, with officers recovering four parcels of cocaine hidden in a specially constructed compartment.
The agency also dismantled a syndicate accused of planting illicit drugs in the luggage of unsuspecting passengers travelling on commercial buses. The operation began after NDLEA officers intercepted a Sienna bus travelling from Nnewi at Abaji in the Federal Capital Territory, where they recovered 467.7 grams of methamphetamine hidden inside a sack of clothes.
Investigations led to the arrest of the intended recipient, Gloria Peter, who denied knowledge of the drugs. Further inquiries resulted in the arrest of bus loaders in Nnewi, one of whom confessed to placing the package in the woman’s luggage on the instruction of the driver, Abdurrazak Isah. The driver later identified one of his passengers, Onyebuchi Victor Okoye, as the owner of the consignment, leading to his arrest in Abuja.
In another operation, NDLEA’s Special Operations Unit arrested 57-year-old Ikechukwu Uwakwe at a motor park in Iddo, Lagos, with 209.5 kilograms of Scottish Loud concealed in a consignment destined for Enugu.
The agency also arrested two citizens of the Benin Republic, Hossou Tito Julien and Mancellim Dossou, alongside a Nigerian, Jackson ThankGod, after intercepting their truck on the Mile 2 Bridge in Lagos. Officers discovered 558,900 tablets of Tramadol 250mg hidden in a specially fabricated compartment of the vehicle, which was transporting the drugs from Togo through the Benin Republic.
Elsewhere, Lucky Abonga and Osas Azamobo were apprehended along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway with 118 kilograms of skunk concealed among legitimate goods in a truck travelling from Lagos to Onitsha.
In Amukoko, Lagos, NDLEA operatives arrested Helen Ese Idiji and Rashidat Sa’adullah, recovering 28.8 kilograms of skunk. Investigators alleged that Helen stored her drug consignments with Rashidat before distributing them to customers.
Meanwhile, the agency said its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign continued across schools and communities nationwide, with sensitisation programmes held in Yobe, Lagos, Kano, Kogi and Enugu states.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd), commended officers involved in the successful operations and urged them to sustain efforts aimed at disrupting drug trafficking networks while intensifying public awareness campaigns against drug abuse.
