By Paul Joseph
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted a 40-foot container loaded with 4,959 kilograms of Canadian Loud, a highly potent strain of cannabis, with an estimated street value of ₦12.397 billion at the Apapa Port in Lagos.
The massive seizure, described as one of the agency’s biggest recent operations, followed more than four weeks of intelligence-led surveillance and culminated in a joint examination conducted on June 23 by operatives of the NDLEA Apapa Strategic Command alongside the Nigeria Customs Service, other security agencies and port stakeholders.
According to the agency, the container, which also carried a Ford vehicle and a Nissan vehicle, had been under close surveillance since April 25, when it departed Toronto, Canada.
Investigations revealed that the shipment was transported by truck to Montreal before moving by rail and later passing through Tanger Med Port in Morocco, where it was loaded onto another vessel on May 23. It arrived at Tin Can Port in Lagos on June 4, was discharged the following day and eventually transferred to Apapa Port, where it was intercepted.
In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives arrested a 38-year-old businesswoman, Iwebema Ogechi Peace, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to Beijing, China.
The suspect was found with 7.5 kilograms of cocaine concealed inside a specially constructed false compartment in her suitcase.
She reportedly told investigators that she regularly travelled to China to purchase goods for resale in Nigeria. Acting on credible intelligence, NDLEA officers searched her luggage at the departure hall of Terminal 2 and recovered four parcels of cocaine hidden beneath the suitcase.
The anti-narcotics agency also uncovered a syndicate allegedly involved in planting illicit drugs inside the luggage of unsuspecting passengers at motor parks.
The investigation began after NDLEA operatives in Abuja, working with colleagues in Anambra State, intercepted a Sienna bus travelling from Nnewi at Abaji in the Federal Capital Territory on June 20.
A search of the vehicle uncovered a waybill package containing 467.7 grams of methamphetamine concealed in a black nylon bag placed inside a sack of clothes bearing the receiver’s phone number.
A follow-up operation led to the arrest of the intended recipient, Mrs Gloria Peter, at Utako Motor Park. Although she denied ownership of the package, further investigations resulted in the arrest of bus loaders in Nnewi.
One of the suspects reportedly confessed to planting the drugs in the woman’s luggage on the instruction of the driver, Abdurrazak Isah, who later identified one of his passengers, Onyebuchi Victor Okoye, as the owner of the illicit consignment. Okoye was subsequently arrested in Abuja.
In another operation, operatives of the NDLEA Special Operations Unit arrested 57-year-old Ikechukwu Uwakwe at a motor park in Iddo, Lagos, with 209.5 kilograms of Scottish Loud, another potent strain of cannabis, concealed in a consignment destined for Enugu.
The agency also arrested two Beninese nationals, Hossou Tito Julien, 30, and Mancellim Dossou, 19, alongside a Nigerian, Jackson ThankGod, after intercepting their truck on the Mile 2 Bridge in Lagos.
The suspects were allegedly transporting illicit drugs from Togo through the Benin Republic into Nigeria when their vehicle was stopped. A search uncovered 558,900 pills of Tramadol 250mg hidden inside a specially fabricated compartment in the truck.
Similarly, NDLEA operatives arrested Lucky Abonga and Osas Azamobo along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway while transporting 118 kilograms of skunk concealed among legitimate goods in a truck travelling from Ebute Ero, Lagos Island, to Onitsha, Anambra State.
In another raid in Lagos, operatives arrested Helen Ese Idiji, 40, and Rashidat Sa’adullah, 53, at No. 15 Olumokun Street, Amukoko, where 28.8 kilograms of skunk were recovered.
Investigators alleged that Helen used Rashidat’s residence as a storage point before distributing the illicit drugs to customers.
Beyond enforcement operations, NDLEA commands across the country sustained the agency’s War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaign, reaching schools, communities, workplaces and places of worship.
The campaign was held at Government Girls Science Secondary School, Damaturu, Yobe State; Adesalu Primary School, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos; Government Girls Secondary School, Badawa, Kano State; School of Science and Islamic Studies, Ankpa, Kogi State; and Community Secondary School, Ezimo, Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu State, among others.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, retired Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended officers of the MMIA, Special Operations Unit, Apapa, FCT, Anambra and Lagos Commands for the successful operations.
He praised their commitment to reducing the supply of illicit drugs while sustaining anti-drug abuse awareness campaigns, urging them to remain resolute in the agency’s ongoing fight against drug trafficking and substance abuse across the country.
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