The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said it has intercepted a multi-billion Naira drug shipment at the Tincan Seaport in Lagos on Sunday.
The shipments, containing methamphetamine and Loud— a strong strain of cannabis— were hidden in automobile spare parts from Canada and were believed to be intended for distribution during Christmas and New Year celebrations.
For the first time in NDLEA’s history, two shipments totalling 83.301 kilograms of methamphetamine were seized from containers bound for the Ladipo automobile parts market in Mushin, Lagos.
One container was examined last Thursday, revealing 5.001 kilogrammes of meth in a bag in a Toyota Camry, leading to the arrest of Isaac Onwumere. The other container, checked on Friday, contained 1,735 parcels of Loud in 44 jumbo bags weighing 867.5 kilogrammes and six plastic coolers with 87 packs of meth totalling 78.3 kilogrammes, resulting in the arrest of Nwanolue Emeka and Friday Ogbe.
The combined value of the meth shipments is around N125 million, while the Loud is worth N2.2 billion. Both seizures were part of a coordinated effort between NDLEA and Customs following extensive tracking and intelligence work from Canada to Lagos.
At the Port Harcourt Port Complex in Onne, NDLEA also intercepted 636,600 bottles of codeine-based syrup from India valued at approximately N4.5 billion.
Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd), the NDLEA Chairman, commended the agency’s efforts, warning drug traffickers of the agency’s capacity to track their operations before reaching Nigeria. He cautioned that continuing their illegal activities would lead to significant losses.
