NDLEA intercepts N3.3bn drugs imported from Canada in Lagos

The operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted N3.3 billion worth of Methamphetamine and Loud, a strong synthetic strain of cannabis imported from Canada for distribution during the Christmas and New Year festive season, at the Tincan seaport in Lagos State.

The illicit drugs were concealed in automobile spare parts.

The NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, December 15, 2024.

Babafemi revealed that the NDLEA officers intercepted the illicit drugs at the Tincan seaport in Lagos after months of intelligence-driven tracking of the cargoes across three continents.

Babafemi said: “For the first time in the history of NDLEA’s anti-narcotic operations, two consignments of methamphetamine weighing 83.301 kilograms were on Thursday 12th and Friday 13th December 2024, recovered from separate containers bearing vehicles and spare parts coming from Canada and heading to warehouses in the Ladipo automobile parts market in Mushin area of Lagos.

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“While one of the containers going to Ladipo market through the Sifax bonded terminal was examined on Thursday 12th December, not less than 5.001kg methamphetamine hidden in a bag wrapped in bed sheet that came in a Toyota Camry car, was recovered, even as a businessman, Isaac Onwumere linked with the consignment was promptly arrested.

“The other container bearing automobile spare parts checked on Friday 13th December was found to contain 1, 735 parcels of Loud packed in 44 jumbo bags with a total weight of 867.5kg and six plastic coolers containing 87 packs of methamphetamine weighing 78.3kg. At least, two businessmen, Nwanolue Emeka and Friday Ogbe, have been arrested in connection with the seizure.”

He stated that two meth consignments have a combined weight of 83.301kg worth 124,951,000, while the 867.5kg Loud is worth N2,168,750,000 in street value.

The NDLEA spokesman said the seizures were made during a joint examination of the shipments with Customs and other port stakeholders, adding that this followed months of intelligence processing and tracking of the consignments from their ports of loading in Canada to the landing port in Lagos by combined Special Operations Units in NDLEA and the Tincan Port Strategic Command of the anti-drug agency.

The Star