Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have carried out a series of coordinated operations in Lagos, leading to the arrest of a 38-year-old woman at Murtala Muhammed International Airport and the seizure of a 40-foot container loaded with nearly 5,000 kilograms of cannabis at Apapa Port. 

The agency said the woman, Iwebema Ogechi Peace, was intercepted at the departure hall of Terminal 2 while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to Beijing. Officers acting on credible intelligence found four parcels of cocaine concealed in a false bottom of her suitcase. One of the parcels was opened and tested on the spot with a handheld device that confirmed the substance as cocaine hydrochloride. The suspect told operatives she regularly travelled to China to buy goods for sale in Nigeria.

In another operation, NDLEA’s Apapa Strategic Command, working alongside the Nigeria Customs Service and other port security agencies, intercepted the container on Wednesday, June 23, after more than four weeks of surveillance. The container, which also held a Ford and a Nissan vehicle, was tracked from April 25 when it left Toronto, Canada. It moved by truck to Montreal, by rail to Morocco’s Tanger Med Port, and was loaded onto a vessel on May 23. It arrived at Tin Can Port on June 4, was discharged the next day, and later transferred to Apapa Port where it was seized. The agency said the container held 4,959 kilograms of Canadian Loud cannabis with an estimated street value of N12.397 billion.

NDLEA also uncovered a syndicate that allegedly plants illicit drugs in the luggage of unsuspecting passengers at motor parks. The case began on June 20 when operatives in Abuja, in collaboration with colleagues in Anambra, stopped a Sienna bus from Nnewi at Abaji in the Federal Capital Territory. A search revealed 467.7 grams of methamphetamine hidden in a black nylon bag inside a sack of clothes bearing the receiver’s phone number. The intended recipient, Mrs. Gloria Peter, was arrested at Utako Motor Park. She denied knowledge of the package. Further investigations led to the arrest of bus loaders in Nnewi, one of whom said he acted on the instruction of the driver, Abdurrazak Isah. The driver later identified a passenger, Onyebuchi Victor Okoye, as the owner of the consignment, and Okoye was arrested in Abuja.

In a related 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 cannabis concealed in a consignment bound for Enugu.

Source: NDLEA