The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has intercepted a massive consignment of Canadian Loud, a high-potency strain of cannabis, valued at ₦10.4 billion at the Tincan Island Port in Lagos.
The illicit shipment, weighing 4,173.5 kilogrammes, was seized following weeks of intelligence gathering, surveillance and tracking by NDLEA operatives in collaboration with local and international security agencies.
This was disclosed in a statement issued on Wednesday by the agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi.
According to the statement, the container carrying the drugs departed Toronto, Canada, on March 28 before being transported by rail to Montreal, where it was loaded onto a cargo vessel.
The shipment reportedly passed through Tanger Med Port in Morocco before arriving at the Lagos port on May 9 aboard another vessel.
Babafemi said the operation involved more than two months of monitoring by the NDLEA Marine Intelligence Unit and the Tincan Island Strategic Command, working closely with the United Kingdom Home Office International Operations, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
He explained that the consignment was eventually intercepted during a joint examination involving NDLEA operatives, officers of the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies on Tuesday, May 12.
According to the agency, the drugs were concealed inside two vehicles — a used Ford bus and a Mercedes-Benz C300 car — packed within the shipping container.
The latest seizure came barely four days after NDLEA operatives raided a mansion in Lekki allegedly used as a stash house, where 4,000 parcels of the same substance weighing 2,326 kilogrammes and valued at over ₦5.8 billion were recovered.
Speaking during the handover of the seized drugs by the Nigeria Customs Service at the Lagos port, the NDLEA Director of Seaports Operations, ACG Ibinabo Archie-Abia, described the operation as a major success for intelligence-led policing and inter-agency collaboration in the fight against transnational organised crime.
Reacting to the development, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa (retd.), commended officers of the Tincan Command and the Marine Intelligence Unit for their professionalism.
Marwa said the recent seizures indicated a coordinated attempt by international drug syndicates to flood Nigeria with synthetic cannabis products.
“This second massive seizure in less than a week is a clear message to international syndicates who think they can use our ports as entry points for their destructive trade that the synergy between NDLEA, the Customs Service, other security agencies and international partners is producing significant results,” he stated.
He vowed that the agency would continue to dismantle drug trafficking networks and ensure those behind the shipments are brought to justice.
Margaret ABAH
